


An Exquisite Taste

by NightWriter89



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Baking, Contest, F/F, Firefighters, Fluff, Friendship, Idiots in Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:13:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 63,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26051698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightWriter89/pseuds/NightWriter89
Summary: The Great Bake Off is a popular baking contest. Both Emma and Regina are being signed up by their friends. Neither is very pleased with it, but both make it through the first round. While both want to win and see the other as competitor, love finds a way...
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan, Felix/Peter Pan | Malcolm, Mulan/Red Riding Hood | Ruby
Comments: 25
Kudos: 129
Collections: Swan Queen Supernova V: Forever Starstruck





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mippippippi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mippippippi/gifts), [Starrrynighhts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrrynighhts/gifts).
  * Inspired by [An Exquisite Taste [ ART ]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26050093) by [mippippippi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mippippippi/pseuds/mippippippi). 
  * Inspired by [An Exquisite Taste [art]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26221372) by [Starrrynighhts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrrynighhts/pseuds/Starrrynighhts). 



Firehouse 71 looked peaceful that early morning. If you were to walk closer to the firehouse, you would be able to smell the delicious smell of a freshly baked apple pie. If you were to walk into the firehouse and climb up the stairs to where the crew normally eats, you would find a very sweaty and stressed-looking blonde woman bending over the pie in the open kitchen. Emma Swan was a true asset to firehouse 71, and not only as a firefighting woman. Whenever there was downtime, Emma could be found in the kitchen, baking all sorts of pies.

“That smells delicious!”

Emma looked up from the pie at Lily Page, her best friend since forever and the firehouse EMT. “That may be, but this is a monstrosity!” she exclaimed, frowning down at the pie.

In the corner of the kitchen, a Dalmatian dog lifted his head, disturbed. Emma flicked a piece of the leftover dough his way and he enthusiastically went after it. “Silly dog,” Emma chuckled.

The dog was a rescue, Emma had pulled him out of a fire in one of her first weeks. The dog had still been a pup and Emma had refused to bring him to a shelter. She had taken him in and trained him. She had been struggling with a name for him, trying out several, until the little devil had stolen her cheeseburger and it had earned him the name Cheeseburger, Cheese for short. It had taken a couple of years, but Cheese was officially a fire fighting dog and he often rode along with them, always keeping his eye on Emma.

Lily looked down at it as well, but couldn’t find any flaws. “What are you talking about?” she frowned.

“The bottom is soggy and the sides are collapsing,” Emma complained, pointing at a tiny crack in the side of the cake.

“You won’t feel that when you eat it,” Jake smirked, as he stepped up behind Lily. “Can I have a piece?” he asked.

Jake Harrison was the captain of Firehouse 71. He was a cheerful person, always in for a joke, but strict when needed. Emma really liked him; he had been like a father to her.  
Emma hadn’t had the easiest life. She grew up in the foster system in New York, never knowing who her parents were. When she was younger, she had fantasized about them. She had fantasized they were a king and queen from a faraway land and they hadn’t been able to keep her because the land had been in a war. When she had grown older, she had forgotten about those fantasies, knowing it couldn’t ever be true.  
She had been fifteen when the twin towers collapsed and she had seen the tireless work the firefighters had done during those days. She had been too young, but she had been itching to help. Ever since then, she wanted to become a firefighter. She had started to hang around Firehouse 71 and Jake had taken her under his wing. She had been too young to start the training, but Jake let her do all sorts of jobs around the house, meanwhile telling her about the job and preparing her for the training. When the day came and she turned 18, Jake had driven her to the academy and she had signed up. She had flown through the academy, graduating with flying colors. After her probation rotation, she had applied for a transfer to Firehouse 71 and she had been with them ever since.

“Oh, this came in the mail for you,” Lily said as she handed Emma a pastel-colored envelope.

Emma took it from her and looked at it with a frown. She turned it around and the logo of ‘The Great Bake Off’ stared at her. Slowly, she lifted her head up and squinted at Lily. “What did you do?” she asked slowly.

“Nothing,” Lily said innocently, but she could barely hide her excited smile.

Emma opened the envelop and read the letter.

_To Miss Emma Swan,_

_We are glad to announce that you have been selected to participate in the qualification rounds of ‘The Great Bake Off’ based on your video and pictures. Hundreds of thousands have preceded you and now it’s your turn to shine!_

_Only twelve people are selected to participate in this year’s ‘The Great Bake Off’. Do you think you have what it takes? Come and show off your masterpiece before our renowned judges on_

_April 4th, 2020_

_We hope to see you there!_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Robert Gold & Astrid Cooper_

Emma read the letter twice, her mouth dropped open slightly. Slowly, she put down the letter and looked up at Lily.

“WHAT.HAVE.YOU.DONE!” she roared and Lily already started walking backward.

“I… signed you up for ‘The Great Bake Off’,” Lily replied, stepping further back.

“WHY?” Emma bellowed, stepping from behind the kitchen island.

“Because I think you have a chance of winning this,” Lily said, getting ready to run.

Emma jumped at her and Lily took off into the firehouse. Emma chased her around the firehouse, Cheese was on her heels. Being way faster meant she got a hold of Lily fairly quickly.

“Why would you think I want to do that?” Emma asked, pushing Lily against one of the bright red firetrucks.

Cheese sat down next to them, his tail flicking. He kept his eyes on Emma, ready to jump at the first sign of trouble.

“Hey!” They both looked up and found August Booth, their new candidate, standing a few feet away from them, looking exasperated. “I just washed that!”

“Sorry,” Emma said. Without too much trouble, she lifted Lily away from the firetruck and pushed her against the firetruck that stood behind them. “Well?” Emma asked, Cheese only moved a bit to keep Emma in his sights.

“Because you are really good!” Lily exclaimed. “But I guess I didn’t think about if you actually wanted to do it.”

Emma let go of her and lifted one eyebrow. “When did you do this?” she asked.

“Like a month ago,” Lily said, as she smoothed out her uniform.

“That’s why you were filming me,” Emma breathed out. “You're crazy.”

“But you love me,” Lily smirked.

“That remains to be seen,” Emma grumbled and walked back to the kitchen, whistling Cheese with her.

“So, are you going to go?” Jake asked as Emma walked back into the kitchen.

Cheese took up his spot in the corner of the kitchen again, laying down his head.

“I don’t know,” Emma replied. “I mean, I don’t know if I can combine it with work.”

“Well, I already sort of arranged that,” Lily smirked. “I called them to find out how and when they would shoot and it’s on your free weekend. And when you go through the qualification rounds, Jake here agreed to give you the weekends off when you shoot.”

Emma shook her head. “You’re killing me,” she said. “And what makes you think I'll get through the qualification rounds?”

“I mean, come on,” Jake said. “You managed to make a masterpiece of a simple apple pie,” he said as he pointed at the apple pie that stood on the counter.

“It is not!” Emma exclaimed, looking back at it. “The bottom is soggy and it’s collapsing even more.”

“That’s because he touched it,” August said as he pointed at Jake. “He wanted to take a piece, but I stopped him. Needs to cool off first, right?” he asked, suddenly uncertain.

“It does,” Emma smiled. “Thank you.” August smirked. “And you!” Emma pointed at Jake. “Don’t touch my pies without my permission.”

“I’m sorry, chef,” he smirked. “Tasted delicious though.”

“Out of my kitchen, all of you!” Emma exclaimed. “I need to think about what I’m going to make.”

“So you’re going?” Lily squealed.

A death glare from Emma made her run out of the kitchen…

~~~

The sun shone into the office and Regina Mills stretched herself out as she looked out of the window. She had been bent over her paperwork all morning and she could do with a walk during lunch. She sighed and looked back at the papers in front of her. She had been working through a pile of applications all morning and this one was a particularly difficult one. Regina Mills was the mayor of the small town of Camden, Maine, and she was in charge of approving or declining applications. Once again she went over the details, but she couldn’t approve this one. It was an application to expand the town's beach house, but it was too expensive. Regina couldn’t possibly say yes to that. She grabbed the decline stamp and pressed it on the paper. She really hated this part of the job. A glance at the clock told her it was already 12.40. She stood up, stretched her back, and grabbed her jacket. She walked out of her office and headed towards the exit when Janet, her secretary, stopped her.

“There’s a letter for you,” she said as she handed the pastel-colored envelope to Regina.

Regina accepted it and slid it into her pocket. “Thank you. I’m going out for a walk, I’ll be back shortly,” she told Janet.

“Enjoy your walk, ma’am,” Janet smiled.

Regina nodded at her and made her way out. The warm sunlight hit her skin and she smiled. She contemplated getting a quick bite, but then she remembered the salad she had made early in the morning. Instead, she walked in the opposite direction towards the beach. She breathed in the fresh air and as she looked at the calm waves crashing on the beach, she praised herself lucky to be living here. She had moved to the quiet town with her son Henry about ten years ago from bustling Boston. His father had left them and Regina had needed a change of scenery. So her sister Zelena had told her that one of the mansions on the outskirts of the town had been vacant for a while and, after Regina had seen pictures of it, she had bought it immediately. Six years ago she ran for mayor of the town and she had just started her second term. Henry loved the town, he had made friends and hardly ever asked about going back to Boston. Regina was so proud of him, he was growing up to be a fine young man. In terms of her own life, Regina was somewhat happy. She was glad to be near her sister again, but she missed that someone special in her life. Zelena had tried setting her up with several suitors, but Regina had rejected them all. She didn’t know why, but she didn’t feel a connection with any of them. By now, Regina had made peace with the fact she would be alone for the rest of her life. Apparently, she already had her shot at love and she had blown it.  
Things with Henry’s father had ended on a bad note and Regina knew she was partly to blame. She didn’t regret separating from him; she no longer loved him. She did regret the fact that Henry had to grow up without a father figure in his life, but it didn’t look like he really missed it. Regina smiled at the thought of her son, he really was her everything. As long as she had him, she knew she would be alright. As she reached into her pocket to retrieve her cell phone, her fingers brushed the envelope she had taken with her. With a frown, she pulled it out of her pocket and turned it around. The logo of ‘The Great Bake Off’ looked up at her and her frown deepened. What the hell was this? She knew for a certainty she hadn’t submitted anything to them, even though she followed it almost religiously. She loved seeing the bakers participating and over the years she had picked up a few recipes. Regina opened the envelop and read the letter.

_To Miss Regina Mills,_

_We are glad to announce that you have been selected to participate in the qualification rounds of ‘The Great Bake Off’ based on your video and pictures. Hundreds of thousands have preceded you and now it’s your turn to shine!_

_Only twelve people are selected to participate in this year’s ‘The Great Bake Off’. Do you think you have what it takes? Come and show off your masterpiece before our renowned judges on_

_April 4th, 2020_

_We hope to see you there!_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Robert Gold & Astrid Cooper_

Regina’s mouth dropped open in surprise. She was absolutely certain she hadn’t entered herself into the competition as she didn’t really think she stood a chance. Cursing under her breath, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number. There was only one person in this world that could have done this.

“Hello, sis.”

“What the hell did you do?” Regina hissed into her phone, making sure no one around her could hear her curse. That would set a bad example.

“Uh… I don’t know. What did I do?” Zelena replied lazily.

“Do you know what I have in my hand?” Regina asked, almost spitting fire.

“How should I know? Last time I checked, I can’t look through a phone, Gina,” Zelena chuckled.

Regina swore again softly. “An acceptance letter from ‘The Great Bake Off’,” she enlightened her sister.

“Ooh, it already arrived? Awesome!”

Regina gritted her teeth. “So you entered me?” she asked.

“Of course!” Regina practically could see her grin.

“How did you do it? You haven’t seen me bake in ages,” Regina objected.

Baking had started to be a hobby of her ever since she moved to Camden. First at was therapeutic, but now she actually enjoyed doing it.

“But your son does.”

Regina took a deep breath. Of course. Henry had seen her bake all the time. He probably had been filming her during her baking sprees and send it in with Zelena. Regina shook her head and sighed.

“Zee, I don’t have time for this,” she finally said.

“Of course you do. The filming is only during the weekends,” Zelena replied smartly.

“Weekends?” Regina replied. “What makes you think I even come through the qualification?”

“Awwe, come on, Gina. You are really good,” Zelena replied.

“I’m not the only one who is really good,” Regina reminded her.

“I know! Won’t it be fun to see who is the best?” Zelena gloated.

Regina’s phone beeped and saw she had an incoming call from her office. “I’ve got to go. We’ll talk about this later,” she said.

“Okay. Start thinking what masterpiece you are going to make,” Zelena said.

“Bye,” Regina said and hung up on Zelena, still silently cursing her. There was no way she was going to do this. “Regina Mills,” she said as she answered the other call.

Yet during the conversation her mind wandered to all the cakes she could bake and she considered which one would help her through the qualification round.

Was she actually going to do this?

~~~

April 4th rolled around way too fast for Emma’s liking. She barely managed to finish her masterpiece for the qualifications on time. Jake and Lily had agreed to accompany Emma to the location where the qualification was held. Jake parked the car and Emma jumped out of the vehicle. She walked around the car and opened the trunk. They had stashed her cake securely, but Emma was still anxious when she opened the can in which the cake was being held.

“And?” Lily asked behind her.

“Still in one piece,” Emma replied and picked it up out of the trunk.

“Are you excited?” Jake asked as they walked across the field to the white tents.

Emma nodded. Over the weeks she had become more and more excited to participate after her anger had subdued. In the end, she had thanked Lily. She probably wouldn’t have had the balls to enter herself in the competition.

“I am,” Emma replied.

“You’re going to do great,” Lily told her.

As they neared the tent, they saw they weren’t the only ones. The field was crowded with people and their bakings. In between were people walking with a camera and the anxiety rose within Emma. It was really happening.  
They walked up to the line that was already forming before the main tent. Emma sneaked a peek ahead and could just make out one of the judges, Astrid Cooper. Excitement filled her as she smirked. Once again she checked the cake, it was still in one piece. It was a three-tier red velvet cake and she had decorated it with dark red roses all around. She had piped white lines on the sides and decorated the lines with white roses. It looked gorgeous and she was very happy with it. Before she knew it, there was a camera pressed in her face and Killian and Ariel were standing in front of her.

“Hello,” Killian said and looked admiring at her cake. “What did you make?” he asked.

Emma licked her lips nervously, she hadn’t expected to be on camera this fast. “Uh, I made a red velvet cake with strawberry filling and a classical mixture for the cake,” she told them.

“That looks amazing,” Ariel said. “I could almost cut it and taste it.”

“Maybe after I’ve seen the judges,” Emma smirked.

“Good calling,” Killian winked. “Did you follow a recipe?” he asked curiously.

“Uh, not really,” Emma admitted. “I like to freewheel.”

“Interesting,” Ariel nodded. “Good luck!”

“Thank you!”

Emma had barely said her goodbyes and they had already vanished. Lily stuck her thumbs up and Emma smirked sheepishly. The adventure really was starting now.

~~~

Somewhere behind her stood Regina with Zelena and Henry. She had put up a fuss after she had gotten the letter but Zelena and Henry had convinced her to come. Regina had given in and she had made her ultimate favorite, a coconut cake.

“Mom!” Henry shouted excitedly, pointing down the line. “I can see Robért Gold!”

Regina craned her neck and saw the top of Robért Gold’s head. As she pulled her head back, she just caught the words of a blonde woman that was standing a few feet ahead of her.

“I like to freewheel,” the woman said and flashed a grin towards the camera.

Regina frowned and glanced over at Zelena. “I think you’re right,” she said.

“I know I’m right,” Zelena smirked. “But in what am I right this time?” she asked.

“That I actually stand a chance,” Regina replied. “Do you see that blonde woman being interviewed?”

“Yeah,” Zelena nodded. “She’s pretty.”

“She just told them she’s freewheeling,” Regina huffed. “This is gonna be a piece of cake.”

Henry sniggered. “You’re already got the lingo down, mom.”

It was only then that Regina realized what she actually said and she chuckled. “It’s already getting to me,” she winked at her son.

~~~

After another hour standing in line, it was finally Emma’s turn to face the judges. Lily and Jake hung back, waiting for her outside the tent. Emma felt her hands starting to sweat as she finally was face to face with Robért Gold and Astrid Cooper.

“Hello, welcome,” Astrid smiled up at her.

“Thank you,” Emma smiled back.

“What did you make for us today?” Robért asked as he observed the cake.

“I made a red velvet cake with strawberry filling and a classic mixture for the cake. I piped it up with frosted icing,” Emma told them, hoping she could convince them to let her go through to the big tent.

“It certainly looks gorgeous,” Astrid complimented her.

“Thank you,” Emma said again.

Astrid and Robért both took a piece of her cake and, anxiously, Emma watched them eat it. Astrid was the first one to look up.

“The cake is a bit dry, but the taste is amazing. You have it perfectly balanced with the filling. Well done,” she said.

“I agree on that,” Robért nodded. “You nailed the taste. Just a bit on the dry side. Well done.”

“Thank you,” Emma beamed proudly.

“You will hear from us,” Robért said and Emma picked up her cake.

Beaming, she walked out of the tent. Jake and Lily were waiting for her anxiously.

“And, and, and?” Lily almost yelled.

“They loved it,” Emma beamed. “It was just a bit dry.”

As they left, Emma just spotted a brunette walking into the tent with an impressive looking coconut cake. But it wasn’t the cake that attracted Emma’s attention. The woman who was carrying the cake looked regal and Emma shuddered, hoping she wouldn’t be one of her competitors later on…

Two weeks later both Emma and Regina received the news they had made the cut. The names of the other contestants weren’t included in the news, so neither of them knew they would be meeting each other fairly soon…


	2. Chapter 2

Along with the letter, Emma had also received the first challenge. It was bread and Emma was near desperation. She rarely baked bread, this didn’t promise to be a good start. The apartment she shared with Lily and Cheese was smelling of freshly baked bread and Emma was sweating to get her newest creation right. Lily entered the kitchen and leaned against the doorpost, looking at her oldest friend. They had met in the foster system and had caused so much mayhem together. Lily smirked at the memories, she was glad they were still friends and now even living and working together. Emma actually had been the one who convinced her to do an EMT course and now she was a fully certified EMT and she was even thinking of enrolling in medical school.

“Lily!”

Lily startled and looked up. Emma was looking at her rather impatiently, holding up a piece of bread. “Can you please help me out?” she asked.

“Of course.”

Lily shot into action and helped Emma pull the baked bread out of the oven. Emma had made 12 identical tear bread buns. Lily whistled, impressed. It smelled delicious.

“Showstopper?” she asked.

Emma shook her head and handed Lily her sketchbook. On it was an intricate-looking drawing of a bread cake with four tiers. “That is my showstopper. This is the signature assignment.”

“Damn, they don’t start easy, do they?” Lily asked as she looked over at the baked bread in front of her.

“Nope,” Emma shook her head. “But at least I got it down within the time. I should be able to do this.”

Yet Emma kept looking concerned at the bread and sighed deeply. She picked up the sketch and glanced at it. Lily felt a pang of guilt as she looked up at her friend.

“Did I overstep by entering you?” she asked softly.

“Hmm?” Emma hummed, her head was still in the drawing.

“Did I overstep?” Lily repeated.

Now Emma looked up and laid down the sketchbook. “At first I thought so, but now that I actually made it onto the show, I want to do this. I’m gonna win this thing,” she said determinedly.

Lily smiled softly. “That’s the spirit.”

“But I might still be a bit pissed,” Emma added, pulling a serious face.

“Oh.” Lily’s face fell. “Can I do something to make it up to you?” she asked.

Emma nodded, her face suddenly split into a grin. “Be my taster and judge for the remainder of the competition,” she smirked. “Oh, and look after Cheese for me,” she added, looking at the sleeping dog in the corner.

Lily chuckled. “I walked right into that one, didn’t I?” she asked, grinning.

“Jup,” Emma smirked.

Lily shook her head and stretched out her hand. “Let’s get started then.”

Emma grabbed a knife and plate and cut off a piece of the bread. “Bon appetite.”

~~~

“Mayor Mills?”

Regina looked up from her sketchbook. She had been drawing the cake she wanted to make for her showstopper in the middle of a meeting.

“Uh, yeah, sorry,” Regina apologized and quickly check out the beamer screen behind the speaker. “That looks good,” she said. “Hand in the plan by Monday morning,” she said.

“Thank you, ma’am,” the speaker beamed and closed down the presentation.

Regina looked down the agenda and saw that there were two more speakers. “Mister Layton?” she said as she looked up.

A lanky man with slick black hair stood up and walked up to the front. Regina glanced back at her drawing and quickly added another small detail and nodded, satisfied. This should do for her showstopper. She looked up as mister Layton started his presentation; it was for the local harbor. Regina groaned, she should have recognized him. Layton was a frequent visitor at these meeting and she wondered what plan he had cooked up now. As he started his presentation, Regina’s attention wandered back to the drawing. At first she had hated Zelena for entering her, but after that successful qualification round, she was determined to win. When she first had gotten the challenge for this week, she had been overjoyed. She baked bread regularly, as she preferred to make it herself, and Henry seemed to like hers better than the store-bought kind. She immediately knew how to do the signature assignment and already an idea for her showstopper had formed in her head.  
She wondered who else had made it into the show. She certainly hoped it wouldn’t be the free-wheeling woman. Although, if she had made it, Regina would have no problem sending her home. Regina smirked devilishly at the thought.

“Mayor Mills?”

Once again, Regina looked up. She had completely missed Layton’s presentation. That meant she had to let him enter his plan. She could always reject it later.

“Looks good. Have the plan on my desk by Monday morning,” she said with a sigh.

During the last presentation, she paid more attention and she told the lady to also hand in her plan before Monday morning. Finally, the meeting was adjourned and Regina rushed home. She needed to practice her tear buns and she just had time to do that before the end of the day. While driving home, her mind was already thinking about the buns. She made a quick detour at the grocery store to get some more flour and then finally headed home. As she stepped through the front door, she heard muted music coming from upstairs.

“Henry! I’m home!” she called upstairs and made her way to the kitchen.

She started preparing the kitchen and was just kneading the dough when a tall, lanky boy entered the kitchen. His brown hair was unruly and his green eyes sparkling.

“Bread again?” he asked as he eyed the dough.

“Yes,” she nodded and plopped the bread into the waiting bowl. With practiced ease, she placed the bowl and dough into the cooling space underneath the counter. She looked up at her son. “How was school?” she asked.

“Schoolish,” he replied with a smirk.

“Henry,” she warned him, giving him a stern look.

“It was good,” he sighed. “Got my math test back.”

“And?”

“I got a B,” he said, knowing it wasn’t up to his standards.

“Did you not study?” Regina asked as she started on the second batch of dough.

“I did, but I also had football training,” Henry explained.

Regina looked at him and nodded. “Okay. But you know you have to keep your grades up to keep playing, right?” she asked.

“I do, mum,” he nodded. “I’ll do better next time.”

“Good,” Regina said. “Want to help me?” she asked.

Henry frowned. “Isn’t the point of practicing that you have to do it yourself?” he asked.

“Smartass.” Regina huffed but smiled. “Fine, I’ll do the hard labor.”

“Heh, I’m still eating the same bread until Christmas,” Henry chuckled. “Anyway, I’ve got homework.”

“Okay, I’ll call you when it’s time for dinner,” she said to his retreating back.

“As long as it’s not bread,” Henry called back before disappearing into his room.

Regina shook her head, he was getting more and more cheeky. Regina was fine with it, as long as he kept it light and civil. When he had started puberty three years ago, they had had a few big fights. He had calmed down during the last year, acting more grown-up. Regina was so proud of her boy and she was glad to have him in her life.

~~~

The weekend came and Emma had taken the airplane to Boston later Friday afternoon. They were being picked up around eight that evening in Boston to be brought to the filming location in Littleton. The ride on the train had been a nerve-wracking one, Emma had no idea what to expect. Of course, she had watched the show on tv, but she imagined it was so much different. She had gone through the package she had received, including the filming schedule. It looked ridiculously cramped and Emma hoped it wasn’t actually as bad. They were supposed to film two of the challenges on Saturday and one on Sunday. The plane touched down and Emma made her way to the exit immediately, she hadn’t brought much luggage. Only a change of clothes, her sketchbook, and one cookbook. It was actually the cookbook she had learned from, she had gotten it from one of her foster mothers. The woman had been the kindest and Emma had wanted to stay with her forever, but the woman had gotten sick and died. Emma still missed her sometimes and she wondered how proud she would be now. Emma exited the airport and breathed in the cool night air. She had made it in time and actually had an hour to spare so she decided to wait in the little café across the airport. She found a spot near the window and went through the cookbook while she drank the hot cocoa. There was a chapter about bread and Emma hoped she could pick up a trick. As she read about a different way of kneading the dough, the door opened and Emma looked up. In stepped the coconut cake lady, and Emma almost choked on her cocoa. What was she doing here? Emma could only think of one thing: the woman had been selected for the show as well. Emma watched her walk towards an empty booth at the back of the café and sit down. Next to her stood a duffel bag and the woman pulled out a sketchbook. Emma quickly diverted her eyes as the woman glanced her way. Emma swallowed. If that woman was her competition, she wasn’t sure how long she would actually stay in the competition. She had seen the intricate looking coconut cake and knew she was no way near that level of baking. Maybe all of this was a huge mistake and they had chosen her as the easy competition for the rest. Emma sighed, it wouldn’t be the first time in her life that she had been picked to be the loser. Her phone vibrated and she saw Lily had texted her. Quickly, Emma read the text and replied. When she looked up again, she saw the woman had vanished and as Emma glanced outside the window, she saw a van waiting on the other side of the road. The logo of ‘The Great Bake Off’ was painted on the side.

“Shit,” Emma swore and quickly gathered her stuff.

She paid for her hot cocoa and dashed outside. On the other side of the van stood a man waiting with a clipboard in his hand and he looked up as Emma approached him.

“Name?” he asked.

“Emma Swan,” Emma replied, blowing a bit of hair out of her face.

“You can get in the van,” he said and motioned for her to get into the van.

When Emma stepped in the were already five other people in the van, including the coconut cake lady. She was relieved to see she wasn’t the last person to arrive and she stuffed her backpack under her chair.

“Hey!” Next to her sat a bubbly blonde, she beamed at Emma as she stretched out her hand. “I’m Tink,” she introduced herself. “It’s short for Katinka, but I hate that name.”

“Noted,” Emma smiled. “Emma Swan.”

“Nice to meet you,” Tink smiled.

A young man in front of her turned around with a big smile. “Peter Pan,” he introduced himself.

“Peter Pan as in…?” Emma chuckled as she shook his hand.

“Yeah, my parents thought it was funny,” he sighed and winked cheekily.

Emma discovered that next to him sat Belle French, a quiet librarian. In the back was Ruby ‘Red’ Lucas and Emma learned that the coconut cake lady actually was called Regina Mills and that she was a mayor. Emma was immediately impressed and almost crumpled underneath her penetrating stare.

The door of the van opened again and two women and a man stepped into the van. They introduced themselves as Ingrid Winters, a middle-aged blonde woman, Aurora Smith, a timid brunette and Mr. Facilier, a broad, dark-skinned man with a charming smile. Emma immediately didn’t like Mr. Facilier, he was too slick for her. Emma did a quick headcount and noticed there were still three people missing. Ruby appeared to be a true chatterbox and kept asking questions. Emma learned that Ruby actually was a fellow firefighter, but she was riding the ambulance due to an injury. Emma told her she was a firefighter too, in New York.

“No way!” Ruby exclaimed. “I bet you have calls all the time.”

“Yeah, it can be really busy,” Emma chuckled.

“I work in a small town, so it's rare that something happens,” Ruby complained.

Emma thought she heard Regina make a huffing sound, but when she looked over she saw the brunette was sleeping. Emma frowned, she didn’t know what to make of her. She had hardly said a word and didn’t interact with any of them. Once again the door slid open and the remaining three people stepped into the van: David Nolan, Neal Cassidy, and Mulan Yang. The man with the clipboard climbed behind the wheel, started the engines and they were off…

~~~

Regina woke up the next morning very early. She blamed the nerves; she had been sleeping restlessly all night. Today would be the first day of filming and the first day of competing. To her horror, Ms. Free Wheeling had stepped into the van. She knew that wasn’t her actual name, but Regina refused to call her by her name right now. Regina realized only later she had spotted the blonde in the same café she had sat waiting for the van earlier that night. While they had been waiting for everyone to arrive, Regina had pretended to be asleep and listened to the conversations around her. She had learned that Ms. Free Wheeling was a firefighter and she wondered why the blonde even entered. It looked like she had a pretty busy life. Regina sighed and put the blonde out of her mind, she needed to concentrate on the upcoming day. She knew she was prepared well enough, she could do this. Regina got out of bed, got dressed, and headed down to the restaurant for some breakfast. She saw she wasn’t the only one, Belle was already having breakfast as well. Regina quickly got her breakfast and joined Belle. The brunette looked up and smiled shyly at her.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hello,” Regina replied. “We haven’t been introduced properly. Regina Mills.”

“Nice to meet you, Belle French,” Belle said. “Nervous?” she asked.

“A bit,” Regina admitted, letting go of her regal posture for a bit.

You’re not a mayor now.

Soon, the rest of the contestants had found their way downstairs too. The atmosphere was tense, everyone was nervous for the first day. Before anyone knew it, it was time to head for the big tent. The same man that had picked them up the day before came around to pick again. Regina learned he was called Leroy and he looked rather grumpy. It was barely eight o’clock when they arrived and Regina spotted the tip of the white tent and excitement filled her. It was really happening, she was really here. One by one they were called up for make-up and Regina had some time on her hands to grab an extra cup of coffee.

“You made that coconut cake, right?” a voice next to her asked.

Regina looked up and lo and behold, Ms. Free Wheeling stood next to her. Regina groaned inwardly, would it be considered very rude to pretend she hadn’t heard her? Regina decided it was and turned her head to face Emma.

“Yes, I did,” she replied.

“It looked amazing,” Emma beamed at her. “No wonder you got through.”

Regina had to bite down on her tongue so hard, she tasted blood. “Thank you,” she managed to get out.

Desperately, she looked over to the make-up trailer, but Tink was still in. Next to her, Emma was taking everything in. They were surrounded by numerous cameras, cables, and lights.

“This is quite a circus,” Emma remarked as she held the cup of coffee.

“Hmmm,” Regina hummed. “It is.”

“So, you’re a mayor, huh?” Emma asked and looked aside.

Regina groaned inwardly, she wouldn’t be able to get rid of Ms. Free Wheeling, would she?

“Yes,” Regina replied.

“Cool,” Emma smiled. “How long have you been in office?”

“For six years now, this is my last term,” Regina said, giving up on the idea of waking up in peace.

“Any idea what you’re going to do after?” Emma asked curiously.

“Not really. I’ve still got four years to go,” Regina answered and took a sip of her coffee.

Emma nodded. “A lot can happen in four years.”

Regina was about to reply when Emma got called in and Regina let out a breath of relief. She looked around her and saw Ruby was talking with Belle. In her head, Regina went over her recipes one more time. Soon enough they all had gone through make-up and were ordered to wait on the other side of the hill where the tent stood. Regina was getting more nervous, her hands started to sweat. After what felt like hours, they got a signal they were allowed to walk over the hill. A camera was pointed at them as they walked to the tent and Regina looked at it in awe. It was much bigger then she had imagined. They walked inside and walked over to their assigned counters. Much to Regina’s annoyance, Emma was right next to her. She couldn’t explain why, but the blonde was getting on her nerves. Regina shook her head, she needed to focus.

After a little wait, Robért, Astrid, Killian, and Ariel entered the tent.

“Welcome all to a new season of ‘The Great Bake Off.’ After a gruesome qualification round, these twelve bakers are the best of the best,” Ariel started.

“Crème de la crème,” Killian added.

“In the coming ten weeks, they will be competing to see who is the best baker of 2020!” Ariel continued with a big smile.

“They will be judged by famous baker and author Robért Gold and pastry specialist and bakery owner Astrid Cooper,” Killian said as he stepped aside to let Robért and Astrid step forward.

Regina felt her mouth go dry. Astrid had been impressed by her cake, but Robért had given some critique.

“Welcome to all bakers. We are looking forward to another season and I’m sure you will all do your utmost best. May the best baker win,” Astrid smiled at them.

Ariel looked at the bakers and Regina realized this was it, they were starting for real now. “For the first signature challenge of the week, Robért and Astrid want you to bake twelve equal tear and share buns. You’ve got two hours for this challenge,” Ariel told them.

“On your marks, get ready…” Killian said, his smile broad.

“Bake!” Ariel beamed.

Regina immediately set to work, she would easily be able to do this in two hours. She started to make her first batch of dough. She flavored it with jalapeno’s and cheese, as she knew Robért liked it spicy.

As she was kneading, she glanced to her side. Emma was sweating and she smirked, this would be easy.

“What flavor are you using?”

Regina glanced up and to her astonishment Robért, Astrid, Killian, and a camera were standing before her counter.

“Uh, jalapeno and cheese flavored tear and share buns,” Regina replied, putting Emma out of her mind.

“And I see you use a different dough then the others,” Ariel noted. “Why is that?”

“This is sugar-free dough. I have to use this because I am diabetic,” Regina explained.

“So you always bake sugar-free?” Robért asked, sounding intrigued.

“I do,” Regina replied.

“Well, I can’t wait to taste them,” Ariel beamed. “Good luck.”

“Thank you,” Regina said and was relieved to see them go.

The first challenge went by in a flash. Way too soon Killian announced they only had 15 minutes left.  
Regina pulled out the buns and was satisfied to see they had turned out perfectly. She decorated them and was done with five minutes to spare. She let them stand on the counter to let them cool off and had time to look around. Emma was rushing to get her buns ready, they didn’t look quite equal to Regina. As Regina watched Emma’s red face and slightly panicked eyes, she felt a pang of sympathy. She could see Emma was a good baker and she had put a lot of effort into her buns.

“Stop baking the buns, time is up!” Ariel announced and everyone stopped. “Please place your buns on the end of your counter.”

Regina was happy to see everyone had managed to get done in time. When everyone was done, the director Sidney Glass had the filming ceased. They were told to leave the tent so the crew could clean their counters, so the next shot would have clean counters. Regina walked out of the tent and was offered a clean apron. Thankful, she accepted, hers had become quite messy. When the tent was cleaned up, they were ordered to place their buns on the end of the counter and sit down on the stool behind it. The camera glided past their counters, making close-ups of their buns. Then they were called up to the front of the room to show their buns to the judges.

They were impressed and in the end, Regina won the first challenge. Beaming, she walked out of the tent.

“Congratulations,” Emma said to her.

“Thank you,” Regina replied. “You did well too.”

“Nah, I did not,” Emma chuckled. “I don’t bake bread that often.”

“I see,” Regina nodded. “Good effort anyway.”

“Thanks.”

There was hardly any time to get a break, they were soon called back into the tent for the technical challenge. Regina had been nervous about that one, as she couldn’t prepare for that one. Killian stepped forward now.

“Today’s technical challenge comes from Robért. He wants you to make a white bread loaf. You will find the recipe and ingredients on your counter. You will have 2 hours for this challenge,” Killian told them. “Robért, any wise words for our bakers?” he asked as he looked at the greying man.

“Manage your time wisely,” was all Robért said.

“Alright. Now, off you pop,” Ariel smirked at them.

Robért and Astrid left the tent and Regina waited anxiously for the start sign.

“On your marks, get ready …. BAKE!”

Regina pulled the towel off the ingredients and picked up the recipe.

“Shit,” she muttered, reading over the recipe.

The recipe was very short and there were hardly any clues. Robért hadn’t told them how long the dough needed to rise or how long to bake the bread. A camera was pointed at her and Regina looked up.

“I made it once, a long time ago,” she told the camera. “But my son didn’t like it, so I never made it again. Hope I still remember how to.”

The camera swerved away from her and she started to make the dough the way she remembered and set to work. The two hours went by in a flash and Regina noticed she was getting short on time. Just in time, she managed to pull out the bread and she thought she had done well. Wiping the sweat off her brow, she looked over to Emma. The blonde looked like she was close to a breakdown. Her bread hadn’t risen at all and it didn’t look like a white bread loaf at all. Regina felt for her, even though she was the competition. She had seen how hard Emma had work and she really wasn’t a bad baker.

“Time is up! Come bring over your white loaf loaves of bread,” Ariel told them.

Regina picked up hers and placed it behind her picture. The filming was paused again and she quickly grabbed a bottle of water.

“That was brutal,” Belle moaned next to her.

Regina nodded and walked back into the tent. The place was all cleaned up and they sat down in a row next to each other. Robért and Astrid walked back into the tent as well and started to judge their bread. Emma ended up last, Regina ended third and Ruby won the challenge. The filming was ceased for the day. It was already past seven as they got back into the van. It had been a long, intense day and she longed for something to eat and her bed. On the way back not much was said, everyone was tired. They arrived at the hotel they were staying and Regina made her way to the restaurant to grab something to eat.

“I think I won’t return next week,” Emma said next to her, her face was sad.

“We still got our showstopper to go,” Regina said to her.

“I know, but…” Emma shook her head. “Never mind.”

She smiled at Regina and walked off with her food. Regina watched her go, shrugged, and loaded her plate with food.

She ate while she texted Henry; he was curious how her first day had gone. Regina told him how gruesome the hours were and a bit about her contestants. Regina glanced up at Emma, who sat eating alone. Regina diverted her eyes back to her screen, she shouldn’t feel compassion to someone who was her opponent. Regina finished eating and made her way to her room. She was exhausted, she longed for her bed. She changed into something more comfortable, grabbed her phone with her, and plopped down on the bed. She switched on the tv but she fell asleep within five minutes, dreaming of white loaf bread turned into tear and share buns…

~~~

Emma woke up in a sour mood the next morning. She knew she needed to shake it off, but she had been dreaming about her showstopper collapsing all night. Just before she left her room, her phone started to ring.

“Hey Lily,” Emma answered the phone and closed the door behind her.

As she walked to the elevator, the door of the room next to her opened and revealed one Miss Mills. Emma decided to skip the elevator and walked to the stairs.

 _“Hey. How are you after yesterday?”_ Lily asked on the other side of the line.

“Rubbish,” Emma admitted. “I kept dreaming that my showstopper collapsed.”

 _“You're going to nail that thing. You’ve been practicing all week,”_ Lily reminded her. _“You're a good baker.”_

Emma sighed and smiled. “Thank you.”

 _“Now go knock 'em dead,”_ Lily told her.

“I will.”

They hung up and Emma entered the restaurant to get some breakfast.

An hour later, Emma stood ready behind her counter. On the way to the tent, she had gone over the sketch and the recipe again and she felt more certain now. She could do this. Killian and Ariel gave them the challenge and told them they had four hours for this challenge. Vigorously, Emma set to work. She would be making an artisan herb bread braid. At home she had almost perfected it, but she knew what kinks she needed to work out. She looked up when Killian approached her with a camera in tow.

“What are you going to make?” he asked curiously.

“I’m making an artisan herb bread braid,” Emma explained. “I’m gonna use natural herbs and flavor the bread with lemon and vanilla.”

“That sounds very good,” Killian nodded and watched as Emma put the dough in the proving closet. “Do you bake bread often?” he asked.

Emma shook her head with a laugh. “No. This was actually the first time I did it.”

“Well, good luck!”

Killian walked off with the camera and Emma was relieved she could go on with her work. The time flashed by and soon Emma was putting the last touch on her braided bread. She was satisfied with how it turned out.

“Time is up!” Ariel called and Emma drew a deep breath.

The filming was paused again to clean up the tent and soon the judging was starting. One by one they were called up to the judges. Regina received praises of her intricate-looking bread and Emma was shaking in her boots by the time it was her turn. She walked up to the judges and placed her braided bread in front of them.

“Very simple,” Robért started and Emma grimaced. He knocked on the bread and Emma was glad to hear it had a good sound. “Bread seems well risen and baked long enough. Braiding work looks good, you can see the strings clearly.” He took a knife and cut out two pieces. He took a bite of his piece. “Structure is good and a very nice and subtle taste.”

“You can really taste the herbs,” Astrid nodded. “Well done,” she nodded at Emma.

“Thank you,” Emma beamed and took her showstopper back to her counter.

Regina didn’t even glance at her and Emma frowned, it looked like Regina had been defrosting towards her yesterday. Emma shrugged, she shouldn’t feel bad about it. They were competitors after all. Soon everyone had their showstopper judged and it was time for the final verdict. They were all lined up in front of the judges and Killian and Ariel. Nervously, Emma looked up at them.

“That was an intense first episode,” Ariel started with a smile. “I have the pleasure to announce this week’s star baker. Their signature challenge was sublime and their showstopper got all the praise. So, this week’s star baker is… Regina!”

Emma glanced over at Regina, who was beaming widely. Emma agreed, she had done very well. She did fear for her own spot, the technical challenge fresh in her mind.

“That leaves the not so pleasant job to me,” Killian said, his face fell. “I have to announce who we will say goodbye to. This week we will be saying goodbye to Ingrid.”

Relief filled Emma after those words, she could go on for another week…


	3. Chapter 3

Regina was sitting at the kitchen counter with the laptop in front of her. She frowned as she scrolled through the pictures and recipes. A sigh escaped her mouth; the challenge of this week wasn’t really up her alley. She had never managed to really nail biscuits. They weren’t in her repertoire, so now she was trying to figure out what kind of scones she was going to make for the signature challenge and how her showstopper would look like.

“What’s with the frown?” Zelena asked, who was sitting on the other side of the kitchen counter.

“The challenge of this week,” Regina replied. “It’s biscuit week and for the signature I need to make scones.”

“Oooh, scones!” Zelena smiled. “I love scones.”

Regina frowned. “I've never made them.”

“Well, what better reason do you need to start?” Zelena smirked.

“Fine.” Regina sighed, she didn’t really have a better idea. “But that still leaves the showstopper,” she added.

Zelena looked at her with a frown and shook her head. “It will come to you,” she finally said.

“Well, it better come fast,” Regina muttered. “I have less than a week.”

She continued to search for recipes for scones suitable for diabetes. She wanted to stick to that angle in her baking as it felt only natural to her. Suddenly she spotted a recipe for cranberry scones and she nodded. That could work. She turned her screen to Zelena and her sister looked up.

“If you’re going to make those, I want to taste test them,” she replied with a smirk, her eyes were twinkling with joy.

“Get in line, Henry is my first tester,” Regina smirked.

“No fair,” Zelena murmured. “How is he doing?” she asked.

“Good,” Regina replied. “He’s getting good grades. He enjoys the football team.”

“So he's really settled in,” Zelena said.

Now Regina looked up and nodded. “He has,” she said. “He hardly ever asks about Boston anymore.”

“What about you?” Zelena asked. “Do you miss Boston?”

“Sometimes,” Regina admitted. “But I like it here too, maybe even more so.”

“Only one thing missing,” Zelena winked.

“Oh, will you give it a rest?” Regina sighed and turned back to her laptop.

“Hey, maybe you’ll find someone at The Great Bake Off,” Zelena perked up.

Regina scowled at her. “You do know we are there to compete, not to fall in love, right? If that was your intention, then you should have signed me up for First Dates or something,” she said.

Zelena started to laugh. “Damn, I should have thought of that!” she hooted.

“Don’t you dare,” Regina threatened and stood up. “I’m going to the store, I need a few things. Do you need anything?” she asked.

“No, I’m good,” Zelena replied. Regina gathered her stuff and was about to leave when Zelena called her back. “But seriously, are there no suitable suitors for you to date?”

Regina only rolled her eyes and walked out of the house. She knew Zelena meant well, but she was happy on her own. She had built a respectable life for herself and she dared to think Henry was happy too. Yes, it would be nice to share her life with someone other than Henry and Zelena, but she wasn’t sure if she could handle such heartbreak again. She knew love wasn’t meant to be forever, at least not for her. Henry’s father had proven that for her. After their break up, Regina had given up on finding someone, she didn’t want to go through that pain again. Of course she knew the heartbreak didn’t have to happen, she might find someone she would grow old with, but she didn’t dare take the jump. Regina shook her head as she walked up to the store, she needed to keep her head in the game. She couldn’t afford to get distracted by Zelena’s silly attempts to hook her up with someone, she needed to win this thing…

~~~

Sweat poured down Emma’s back as she dashed up the stairs. The smoke around her was thick and heavy and she could barely see where she was. She stepped onto the landing and August followed suit behind her. They had gotten the assignment to clear the third and fourth floor of the burning building they were in and were climbing up to the fourth floor now. Emma walked straight to the first door she saw and banged on it with force.

“Fire department, call out!” she bellowed.

There was no reply and Emma busted open the door. She quickly swooped the apartment as she kept calling out. The apartment was empty and Emma walked back to the landing. August emerged out of the apartment across the hall, empty as well. Systematically, they swooped all the apartments until they were sure there was no one present.

“Captain, the fourth floor is all clear as well,” August reported.

“Copy that. Come back out,” Jake ordered them through the radio.

Emma nodded and started walking towards the stairs when Cheese started to whine, looking up at the ceiling.

“Shit,” she swore and noticed August had seen it as well. “Hello!” she called out again. “Fire department, call out!”

Cheese kept turning circles on the spot, howling. Neither of them heard anything, but Cheese had never been wrong.

“What the fuck?” Emma swore and together they searched for a way up. “Cap, Cheese has sensed something. We’re going to investigate,” she said through the radio.

“Copy that,” Jake responded.

Emma spotted a cord hanging down and she pulled it. A trapdoor crashed down and they could hear a soft, muffled crying. August went up first and, as Emma emerged on the attic, her heart skipped a beat. All the way at the end of the attic against the wall were four people huddled together, a man, a woman, and two kids, one of whom was crying. August approached them carefully as Emma called it in.

“Cap, we’ve found more people. On the attic,” she said through the radio.

“Copy that. Get them the hell out of there, the building is about to collapse,” Jake told her.

“Copy that.”

August had reached the family. They didn’t seem to be speaking English and Emma had the sneaky suspicion they were illegal. Cheese had sneaked his way up the stairs as well and crawled over to the family.

“We got to get them out of here,” Emma said to August.

“I know, but they don’t seem to understand me,” August panted. “And they are scared as hell.”

Emma nodded and stepped forward. “No police,” she told them. “Come.”

The woman looked up at her, her eyes were scared. One of the children moved towards Cheese when the floor started to creak. More smoke billowed up through the creaks. Emma didn’t like the sound of it, they needed to get out of here. She took a step forward when the floor underneath the family broke. August pulled her back just in time and Emma grabbed Cheese just in time. She immediately scrambled forward, seeing the family had vanished.

“Noooo!” she screamed.

“Emma, we got to go!” August urged, pulling Emma with him.

Emma bit down the emotions that were threatening to escape and followed August down and out of the building, Cheese ran ahead. They were out just in time, the whole building came crashing after them. Lily walked up to Emma, seeing her distraught face.

“Are you okay?” she asked worried.

“I am,” Emma nodded, pulling her helmet off her face. “We almost had them,” she gasped.

“I know.”

Emma looked up when she saw Jake was arguing with someone.

“Sir, you need to calm down,” she heard Jake say to a short, bald man.

“Calm down?? That is my building!” the man shouted, his eyes were wild with panic.

Emma’s eyes narrowed as she thrust her helmet into Lily’s hands and stalked towards the man. She grabbed him by the lapels of his vest and pushed him against a car.

“If you are the owner, then why did you have people stashed in the fucking attic?” she bristled.

“People in the attic?” the man asked dumbstruck. “I don’t know nothing of any people there,” he breathed.

“Of course you don’t,” Emma grumbled and let go of the man.

She knew she couldn’t prove it, but she didn’t believe him. “They are dead now, thanks to you,” she told him as she walked backward back to the truck. “Idiot,” she mumbled.

Lily looked at her worriedly as Emma stepped onto the fire truck. “You sure I don’t need to check you over?” Lily asked.

“I’m fine,” Emma said and smiled reassuringly at her. “See you at the station.”

~~~

Henry entered the kitchen just as Regina finished the last piece to her showstopper. He whistled as he circled the impressively built-up piece consisting of different kinds of biscuits.

“You outdid yourself,” he said.

“Thanks,” Regina smiled and looked at the piece as well. “It turned out better than I had pictured at first.”

“You do know that if you go through to the next round, you have to top this,” he remarked as he stole a biscuit off the piece.

“If?” Regina asked, drawing up an eyebrow.

“When,” he smirked. “Hmm, this tastes heavenly! Why haven’t you baked this before?” he asked.

Regina shrugged. “They are not my favorite and difficult to combine with diabetes,” she said. “When I started baking, there were hardly any recipes available. But I can make them more often if you want.”

“Good,” Henry said around a mouthful. “It will be a good alternative for all the bread,” he winked.

Regina chuckled, the freezer was still stock full with all the bread she baked last week. “Smartass,” she said as she broke off a biscuit as well.

“But you love me,” he smirked and sat down at the counter. “Are you excited to go back?” he asked seriously.

Regina nodded. “But also anxious. I have no idea what the others are making,” she said.

“You’re going to nail this. The judge is going to love this,” Henry said as he motioned at the piece sitting on the counter.

“Thank you,” Regina smiled at him. “How was school?” she asked.

“Good,” he replied. “Coach is really starting the training now. I hope I’ll make the team,” he added.

“You trained hard enough for it,” she told him.

“Yeah, but if I keep eating all your baking, I’ll grow too big for my uniform,” he smirked. “Anyway, I’m upstairs doing my homework.”

Regina watched him go after he stole quite a large piece of biscuit with him and she shook her head. She loved her doofus of a son with all of her heart and, as she heard him dash up the stairs, her heart swelled with pride.

~~~

Emma hadn’t been able to put the incident out of her mind the entire week. The woman’s eyes had been following her in her dreams and the screams had woken her up night after night. So when Friday drew up, Emma was exhausted. Thanks to the many sleepless nights, she had been able to somewhat prepare for the challenge. Still, she didn’t feel very confident, she hadn’t made biscuits very often. She had never felt the need to make them, so this would be a true challenge. As she exited the airport, she was once again early and crossed the street to the café. She smiled as she saw a few familiar faces. Tink, Peter, and Ruby were having a cup of tea when Emma approached the table.

“Hey, Emma!” Ruby greeted her with a big smile.

“Hey,” Emma smiled and sat down. “How is everyone?” she asked.

“Good, nervous,” Tink admitted. “Biscuits aren’t my strong suit.”

“Mine either,” Peter said with a sigh.

“Guess I’ll be star baker then,” Ruby grinned. “I love making them. Want some tea, Em?” she asked as she stood up.

“That would be lovely,” Emma smiled and nodded.

As Ruby walked away, Emma spotted Regina sitting in a booth by herself. She frowned, as Regina clearly was ignoring them.

“How was your week, Emma?” Tink asked curiously, glancing at her.

Emma shrugged. “You know, typical,” she kept it vague, she didn’t want to bother anyone with her problems.

“I am not a firefighter, so what’s typical?” Tink prodded.

The blonde sighed. “A couple of building fires, rescued a kitten, car crashes,” Emma summed up.

Ruby came walking back with five freshly brewed teas and sat down.

“That sounds intense,” Peter replied as he grabbed his tea.

Emma shrugged and looked back up at where Regina was sitting. “Why isn’t she joining us?” Emma asked.

Ruby looked up at Emma. “She’s sulking,” she grinned. “She prefers to be alone.”

“I see.”

As they drank their tea, they made small talk until it was time for them to go. Soon enough they were on the way to their hotel, checked in, and ready for the night. As Emma made her way to her assigned room, she noticed Regina was walking to the room next to her. Emma hesitated and looked at the regal-looking brunette.

“Hey, Regina?” Emma said, hoping Regina wouldn’t blast her into smithereens.

“What?” Regina almost snapped as she looked up.

Emma was taken aback by her fierce eyes and quickly looked away. “Just wanted to wish you good luck,” she mumbled and rushed into her room.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, what was Regina’s deal? Emma couldn’t deny that the brunette looked gorgeous, despite her icy attitude.

Emma shook her head, she wasn’t here to hook up with someone, she was here to win. She took a quick shower and hopped into bed. That night, for the first time this week, she didn’t dream about the woman that died but of a certain regal brunette…

~~~

Regina was nervous. She wasn’t very familiar with the feeling and she couldn’t say she particularly liked it. It made her feel jumpy and itchy. It’s why she chose to not sit with the others while waiting for their ride. She had hoped it would have subsided after a good night of sleep, but it only had gotten worse. She had woken up well before her alarm went off and she had decided to go get some breakfast. Her notes and recipes were spread out in front of her as the rest of the contestants slowly entered the restaurant. Regina looked up briefly and just spotted a bit of blonde hair. As she looked closely, she saw it was Emma who was grabbing some breakfast. Regina thought the blonde looked tired and as she recalled, Emma had looked tired the day before as well. She wondered if there was something wrong and she regretted snapping at Emma. She was about to raise her hand to wave Emma over when Emma walked up to where Ruby was sitting and Regina lowered her hand. Might even be for the better, Regina wasn’t here to make friends. Yet as she watched Emma’s slumped shoulders, she couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. Regina sighed and looked at her watch, it was almost time to leave. She closed her sketchbook and notebook and slid them back in her bookcase. She saw the rest was finishing up breakfast and Regina was one of the first to walk into the lobby. As the van pulled, Regina’s nerves were back as well. She found a spot in the back of the van and pulled out Henry’s headphones. She had told him about all the chatter mouths in the van and he had lent her his trusty headphones. Regina was happy to have them and she put on some relaxing jazz music. A smile appeared on her face as she closed her eyes. She drifted off as the movements of the van helped her lull to sleep.

“Regina!”

Regina opened her eyes and pulled down the headphones. Ruby was leaning into the van, her hand rested on Regina’s shoulder.

“Shit, sorry,” Regina mumbled as she scrambled out of the van.

“I let you sleep as long as I could,” Ruby smiled up at her.

“Thanks,” Regina nodded and put away the headphones. “I appreciate it.”

Ruby nodded. “They want you in makeup.”

Regina nodded and made her way to the makeup trailer. As she was about to enter, Emma emerged from it. She looked less tired, although her eyes were still dull. Emma nodded at her and walked past her as Regina grabbed her arm in an instinct.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” she said.

“It’s okay,” Emma replied.

Regina shook her head. “Not really. I’m just very nervous,” she admitted.

“Aren’t we all?” Emma winked and dashed off.

Regina watched her go and stepped into the makeup trailer.

~~~

The lights were shining brightly in her eyes and Emma squinted slightly. Even though she had finally slept well, it didn’t mean she wasn’t still feeling tired. As she waited for the cameras to start rolling she went over the recipe one more time. It wasn’t very difficult and she hoped it would be enough to impress the judges. During the week she had read up about them. Robért Gold in particular was described repeatedly as a tough cookie. Emma took a deep breath as Sidney started to count down and before she knew it, Killian, Ariel, Robért, and Astrid walked into the tent.

“Welcome back, bakers,” Killian started with a big smile. “I hope you all have had a good week and a good rest because I heard Robért talking and he’s done with being tough,” he winked at him.

“Whenever have I been soft, Killian?” Robért stepped in, frowning up at Killian.

“Well, uh… You’ve got a point there,” Killian smirked, but Emma could see Killian was uncomfortable under Robért’s piercing stare.

“It’s biscuit week and I hope you all are ready to make some delicious biscuits,” Ariel took over quickly. “The judges want you to make twelve finger-licking scones you can serve with tea time.”

“Or coffee time,” Killian winked. “You have an hour for this challenge.”

“Bakers, on your marks…get ready…” Ariel said.

“Bake!” Killian called.

Emma immediately set to work, an hour wasn’t much. She quickly started to make the dough and started divided the dough into twelve equally small rounds. When she did that, she made the top swirly with a skewer. Just as she had placed the dough into the oven, a camera was shoved in her face and Astrid stood in front of her.

“What are you going to make?” she asked.

Emma took a deep breath and prayed the makeup lady had done a good enough job so she didn’t look like a ghost. She hadn’t told anyone in the production crew about what had happened, she didn’t think it would be very helpful.

“I’m going to make twelve homemade scones, filled with strawberry jam,” Emma told them and knew it wouldn’t be enough.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Regina was making cranberry scones and she groaned inwardly. She grabbed the ingredients to start making the jam.

“Simple, yet a favorite,” Astrid nodded appreciatively.

Emma blew out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Apparently, Astrid thought it was a good choice.

Emma nodded, putting up a fake smile. “Yes. I make them all the time for my firefighting family,” she said.

“Oh really?” Astrid smiled.

Emma couldn’t hold it and laughed, shaking her head. “No. I hardly ever make biscuits,” she admitted.

“There’s no shame in that,” Ariel winked. “Good luck.”

Emma didn’t know if it had been such a good idea to admit that, but it was too late now anyway. She glanced aside and saw Regina was pulling out her scones and Emma thought they looked perfect. Yet Regina was frowning and didn’t look too happy about it. She took her eyes off Regina and concentrated on finishing the jam or she wouldn't be able to make it on time.

Emma startled when her alarm went off and she rushed to the oven.

“15 minutes left!” Killian called out.

“Shit,” Emma muttered as she placed the tray with cookies on the counter.

Quickly she started to cut up the scones and she couldn’t prevent a few from breaking. Luckily the lower halves broke, so she could cover that up with the jam. She just finished up the last one when Ariel called time. She blew a string of hair out of her face, she had survived. She looked aside her and saw Regina had made twelve perfect scones. Emma grimaced, she would probably end up as star baker again. The filming stopped and Emma stepped off out of the tent to grab something to drink as the crew cleaned up their mess. Last week, Emma had felt tempted to help out, but now she was too tired to care. Soon they were called back on into the tent and the filming started again. One by one, they went up to the judges. Regina once again got high praise. Emma stepped up, prepared for the worst. But when Robért actually closed his eyes as he tasted the freshly made jam, Emma knew she had scored points. Happily, she returned to her counter, Ruby gave her a thumbs up. Emma smirked, this made it all worthwhile.

~~~

The technical challenge was up next and even though Robért had praised her, Regina felt nervous. It hadn’t helped much that when Robért had tasted Emma’s scones, he had practically moaned. It had pissed Regina off, there was no way she was going to lose to miss Free Wheeling. As Regina waited for the technical challenge to start, she tried to distract her mind. She scrolled through Facebook, but nothing interesting was happening. Regina looked up and saw that, for once, Emma wasn’t talking with anyone. She was just sitting on the ground typing on her phone. Again Regina felt a pang of concern for her. She didn’t know the blonde very well, but she was the complete opposite of how she was last week. Regina shook her head, it shouldn’t concern her. Yet, she couldn’t put away the feeling, she wasn’t stone cold after all. Just as she was about to go over to the blonde, they were called back into the tent. As Regina put on the apron, she walked up to her counter. She was wondering what the technical challenge would be. She tried to keep her nerves in check and waited for the cameras to start rolling. Sidney counted down and when the cameras started rolling, Killian, Ariel, Robért, and Astrid came walking into the tent as well. For a brief second, Regina wondered where they all went off to. She never saw them in between the filming.

“Today’s technical challenge comes from Astrid. She would like you to bake 24 equal-sized langue de chat. You will have 30 minutes for this challenge,” Ariel told them.

“On your marks, get ready… BAKE!” Killian declared

Regina pulled the towel off the ingredients and found the recipe. She groaned. She had never made langue de chat. The recipe was very sparse and Regina hoped she would do this right. She knew she didn’t have much time. She started to make the dough as best as she could and mixed the butter and icing into a bowl. Without knowing how much of everything, she added salt and vanilla extract, praying she would do the right thing.

“How are you doing, Regina?” Killian suddenly asked, he was standing next to her.

“Honestly?” Regina asked. “Not too good.”

“Not used to making langue de chat?” he asked.

Regina shook her head. “This is the first time, actually,” she admitted.

Killian nodded and grabbed a pen. “Would it help if I drew a cat on your recipe?”

Before Regina could stop him, he had already drawn a cat. Regina chuckled at the sight of the fat cat sitting underneath her recipe. “It does, thank you,” she smiled. “I’m gonna put this in a frame.”

“Great,” Killian smirked. “Good luck!”

Regina nodded and concentrated on her work. She added the flour and when she was done spooned the dough into the piping bag. She had no idea how langue de chat looked like and she didn’t want to cheat either. So she did what looked best and piped 24 round cookies. Doubtful, she looked down at her work, she had mixture left in her bag. She shook her head, there needed to be 24 langue de chat. She put down the piping back and put the tray in the oven. She checked the recipe again, but of course, it didn’t say how long or how hot.

“Dammit,” Regina swore and took a gamble. She set the oven on 100 degrees and 20 minutes. She nodded, that should do it.

Regina stood upright and started to make some more icing to decorate the langue de chat. Finally, she dared to glance around her. Ruby looked very relaxed, she was leaning on her counter looking at the rest. Regina squinted her eyes, that wasn’t good. Next to her, she saw Emma was stressing as well. She tried to catch Emma’s eye to give her an encouraging nod, but Emma was completely engulfed in her own bubble. Regina shrugged and concentrated on her own work again. Soon her alarm went and Regina pulled out the langue de chat. To her relief, they hadn’t started running and they didn’t look half bad.

“Five more minutes,” Killian called out.

Regina was starting to feel very stressed now and hurried with the decorations of the cookies. As she glanced over at Ruby, she saw the brunette’s langue de chat’s looked very different from hers. Regina groaned, there was nothing to do about it now. There was absolutely no time to start over. Killian called time just as Regina started on her twentieth cookie. She shook her head disappointed, this didn’t bode well. The filming stopped again and Regina stalked out of the tent. She watched as the tent got cleaned up as she went over what just happened in her head.

“That were the most stressful 30 minutes of my life,” Facilier said next to her.

“Same,” Regina nodded. “I'd never made the damn things.”

“Me neither,” he said.

They were called back into the tent and Regina looked down at her pitiful langue de chat. During her wait, she had quickly googled them and knew they weren’t right. As she had decorated them, she had felt they were very soft, so they probably were under baked.

Filming started up again and one by one they brought their bakes up to the judges' table. They lined up and waited for the judges to appear. Astrid and Robért appeared and they started with the first one, it was from Emma. They gave commentary as they tasted the langue de chat.

“This one clearly doesn't have the right shape,” Robért said about Regina’s langue de chat and Regina tried to keep a straight face.

Astrid picked one up and shook her head as she broke the cookie apart. “It’s clearly under baked as well. Shame.”

Regina couldn’t hide the disappointed scowl. Soon they were done with judging. Regina ended up last, Emma was tenth and Ruby won the challenge. The ride back to the hotel was the longest Regina ever had experienced…

~~~

Emma woke up by a sound she couldn’t place. She never slept deep, thanks to her job. As she sat up, she heard the sound again. It was as if someone was pounding against the wall and Emma frowned as she realized it came from Regina’s room. As she listened closer, she could hear Regina talk, but she couldn’t make out what she was saying. Worried that the brunette was in trouble, Emma slipped out of bed, grabbed her key card, and walked out of the room. She walked over to Regina’s room and knocked softly.

“Regina?” she called softly.

The pounding stopped and after a few seconds the door opened and Regina appeared in the doorway. She looked disheveled, her hair was a mess and her eyes red.

“What?” Regina hissed.

“Are you okay?” Emma asked concerned. “I heard noises and thought you were in trouble.”

“I am fine, Miss Swan,” Regina sneered. “Go back to bed, I’m not a damsel in distress that needs saving,” she added.

The door was slammed closed in her face and, flabbergasted, Emma stared at it. She blinked once, twice, and then turned to go back to her own room. She slipped back in bed and lay listening for more sounds, but everything stayed quiet. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep…

~~~

The next day, Regina appeared at breakfast as late as she could afford. She felt ashamed after last night, Emma hadn’t deserved to be yelled at. The night before, Regina had been so upset with herself, she had returned to an old habit of hers. She had been pounding her head into the wall, as a way of punishment. It may seem childish, as she did it when she was a kid whenever her parents had been fighting. As she grew older, she thought she had found better ways to cope with stressful situations, but it had returned when she went through the divorce and she had felt so guilty. She wasn’t proud of this and now she had a splitting headache because of it. As soon as she stepped into the restaurant, she could see Emma looking at her. Regina ducked her head, grabbed something to eat, and sat at the table in the far back. Glancing at her watch, she saw she had ten minutes to eat and get ready. She wolfed down her breakfast and was done just in time.  
She gathered her stuff and got into the van. No one was saying much, everyone was tired. As Regina rested her head against the headrest, she hissed in pain. On the back of her head was a huge bump and she touched it gingerly. At least it hadn’t started bleeding again. She sighed, she shouldn’t have done that. The van started to move and Regina stared at the back of Emma’s head. She should apologize, right? Unfortunately, she didn’t get the change as they were rushed through makeup and brought to the tent. Before Regina knew it, the cameras were rolling and she was engulfed in her showstopper. She was making different batches for her biscuits, as she had planned an elaborate showstopper. When she drove to Boston yesterday she had come up with a slightly easier showstopper, but after yesterday she had decided to go for the original plan. She needed to get through this and impress the pants off the judges. They had five hours for this challenge and, in the end, Regina was exhausted. As soon as the camera’s stopped, Regina stumbled out of the tent and plopped down on the grass. She couldn’t stand anymore, her feet were killing her. She laid on her back, closing her eyes. She felt someone laid down next to her, but she was too tired to open her eyes and see who it was.

“Are you okay?” a soft voice next to her asked after five minutes.

Regina finally opened her eyes and looked into Emma’s green eyes. She swallowed as something seemed to get loose in her stomach. It was as if the world had stopped turning and she and Emma were the only ones there.

“Tired,” Regina finally replied.

Emma smiled and Regina noticed these little wrinkles around Emma’s eyes. Her eyes finally seemed to lit up as well and Regina finally knew what it was that was so different about Emma this week. Her eyes.

“Aren’t we all,” Emma breathed and Regina nodded. “I meant more after last night.”

Regina cast down her eyes, shame creeping up again. “Yes,” she breathed. After a few seconds, she dared to look up again. “I’m sorry I yelled at you,” she said.

“It’s okay,” Emma started, but Regina shook her head and sat up.

“It’s not,” Regina said. “You didn’t deserve it. I’m just tired, stressed, and I don’t know what else,” she sighed.

Emma sat up as well and made Regina look up at her. “I get it and it’s okay. I’m stressed and tired too. It’s easy to snap then.”

Regina managed to smile and the thing in her stomach started to flutter even harder. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome,” Emma said. “If you ever need to yell or vent, come find me. Don’t hurt yourself.”

Regina was about to reply, but they were called back into the tent. Emma stood up and stretched out her hand to Regina. Regina grabbed and Emma pulled her up without a problem.

“Thanks,” Regina said and donned her apron again.

Emma nodded and looked at the tent. “Here we go,” she mumbled.

“Good luck,” Regina said.

“You too,” Emma replied as she smiled.

The thing in Regina’s stomach was fluttering so hard now, it felt like it was trying to escape. Regina felt ten pounds lighter than when she left the tent and she wondered how that happened. The only thing that happened was her talk with Emma. Regina frowned, she felt so confused now. Her attention got pulled away from the matter as the cameras started rolling and Killian, Ariel, Robért, and Astrid walked into the tent.

“I have the joy of announcing this week’s star baker,” Killian started. “They impressed the judges with their perfect scones and almost perfect langue de chat. Their showstopper was without a doubt the shiner this week. So, this week’s star baker is Ruby!”

They all applauded and Ruby smirked brightly.

“So that means I have the burden of announcing of who we are going to say goodbye to,” Ariel said, she pulled a sad face. “This week we’re saying farewell to David.”

David nodded, he had expected it. Regina stood up and hugged David.

“Well done,” she told him.

“Thank you,” he replied. “Good luck.”

Regina let go of David and went over to congratulate Ruby. Emma suddenly appeared next to her.

“We need to step up our game,” she smirked.

Regina nodded. “We do, Miss Swan,” she said.

Finally, Regina reached Ruby and went to hug her. The thing in her stomach kept fluttering and her mind kept going back to the blonde, smiling, strong firefighter…


	4. Chapter 4

Whistling, Emma was mixing her ice. She was preparing for this week’s challenge, desserts. This was something she had been looking forward to, she loved making desserts. As soon as she heard this week’s challenge, she had started to plan her showstopper. It would be one of her favorites she always made for Christmas and other holidays that involved dinner parties.

“Wow, did Christmas come early?” Jake asked with a smile as he walked into the kitchen, kneeling down next to Cheese to scratch his ear.

Emma smirked. “Maybe.”

“I’ve got to say, ever since you started this competition, I’ve put on a few pounds,” he winked at her as he stood up and walked over to the counter.

“Maybe you should participate in a few of your own drills then,” Emma teased him.

“Then who is going to supervise you cheaters?” Jake protested.

Emma chuckled and shook her head. “Maybe trust us?” she suggested.

“As if,” he scoffed.

He was about to say more when his phone went off. He answered it, waved at Emma, and walked off. Emma watched him go and concentrate back on her ice mix.

She hoped the showstopper would be enough to win her star baker this week, she really wanted to be that if only just once. She wondered what Regina was going to make, her bakings always looked delicious. She hoped that she would be able to taste some of it someday, it looked like Regina was opening up more. Fondly, Emma thought back to their little talk after their last showstopper challenge. Regina had apologized about her behavior the night before but hadn’t told what she was actually doing. Emma knew she shouldn’t be curious, but she was. That little talk had told her more about Regina than Regina had done herself. Emma had learned that Regina had a soft heart, despite her regal posture. There in the grass, Regina had let her guard down for just a second. Emma had seen someone so sweet and bright behind that guard and she wanted more. Emma took a deep breath, Regina was probably straight. She had caught a bit of Regina’s introduction before the camera and she had heard her say she had a son. Emma should butt out now before she actually developed feelings for the brunette. Deep down she knew, however, it was far too late already. Her eyes had been drifting to Regina from the first moment they had met and Emma knew she was gone. It wasn’t like she could do anything about it, she was positively convinced Regina was straight.

“Hey, where are you?” Lily asked and Emma looked up.

She was standing there with the mixer in her hand going wild and her mix was ruined.

“Shit,” she swore and stopped the mixer.

“That is ruined,” Lily said dryly, looking at the mix.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Emma groaned and put the bowl in the sink.

She reset the alarm and started over with the mix.

“That is not like you, getting lost in your head,” Lily noticed, as she looked up worriedly at her friend.

Emma shrugged as she started to beat the mix around to get the air out. “Just thinking about the coming challenge,” she replied as innocently as she could.

“Are you sure?” Lily asked, raising her eyebrow. “Dessert is like your specialty.”

“It is,” Emma smirked.

“And you were thinking about that?” Lily prodded, she didn’t trust it.

“Yup,” Emma said as she set aside the meringue, it needed to rest.

“So not about a new woman in your life?” Lily guessed. “You are only distracted like that when you think about a woman.”

Emma tried very hard not to turn red and by the look of Lily’s satisfied smirked, she had failed miserably. “Okay, fine,” she gave in and started to make the cake mix.

“Dish,” Lily smirked as she leaned on the counter, focusing all her attention on Emma.

Emma sighed, wondering if it was a wise choice to indulge in Lily’s wishes. If she were to talk about Regina, then it would be real and she was not sure she was ready for that. Up until now, it had been a mild interest; up until now it only had been platonic. But Emma knew deep down there was more to it, something was drawing her to Regina like a magnet.

“She is one of the other competitors and she’s crazy hot,” Emma started. “She has this regal posture, really closed off. But this weekend we got talking and she’s actually really sweet.”

“Right up your alley,” Lily grinned, she exactly knew what Emma’s type was.

“And very straight,” Emma said as she looked up. “She has a son.”

“That has never stopped you,” Lily teased.

“Lil,” Emma groaned. “I can’t go there, not now. I don’t need strings attached, she’s my competitor. I need to beat her, preferably without feelings.”

Lily shrugged. “It’s just a game, right?” she said.

“Not to her,” Emma replied. “She takes this very seriously.”

Lily nodded and sighed. “Do you like her?” she asked softly.

Emma looked up and bit her lip. She was about to reply when the alarm sounded, there was a call out.

_Saved by the bell…_

~~~

The week had flown by and Regina had been looking forward to this week more than usual. Desserts were right up her alley and she was more than ready to head this challenge. She already had her showstopper figured out, soon followed by the signature dish. She still got nervous about the technical parts, but there weren’t many desserts she didn’t know. There was also another reason she was looking forward to this week, but she had buried it deep within her. Every time she had thought about a certain blonde, this warmth had filled it. She yearned to feel it again, even though she couldn’t place what it was exactly.

A suddenly near voice brought her out of her reverie. “Ready for another crazy weekend?”

Regina looked up and found Facilier sitting across from her, smiling charmingly. Regina barely suppressed a gagging sound, she found him repulsing. Yet she kept up appearances, just as her mother had taught her. It was the only useful thing the woman had ever taught her.

“Yes,” she replied shortly. “You?”

Facilier leaned forward, his smiling broadening. Regina instinctively leaned away from him until she hit the back of her chair.

“This is going to be a piece of cake,” he said. “I’ve been making desserts since I could walk.”

“Uhuh,” Regina said, she didn’t believe him.

Her eyes slid to the door of the café when she heard the little bell, but a bald man entered. Disappointment settled in the pit of her stomach and as she checked her watch, Emma was running late.

“….after all of this?”

Regina looked up, she had completely missed Facilier’s question, but by the creepy look in his eyes, she doubted it was anything good.

“What?” she asked.

“You, me, a drink?” he summarized.

Now Regina had given him her complete attention. “Uh, no thanks,” she said, her eyes gliding back to the door again. It was almost time.

Facilier chuckled. “Not now,” he said. “After all of this is over.”

Regina looked back again when it wasn’t Emma that had walked in. “I don’t think so, Facilier,” she said clearly.

“Ah come on,” he smiled. “You and me would make a good team.”

“I said no,” Regina said as she stood up and slapped a tenner on the table to pay for the coffee. “The van is here.”

Without waiting for him, she walked out of the café. Most of the contestants were present, only Emma and Aurora were missing. Regina stepped into the van and managed to get a spot that gave her a view at the exit of the airport. She felt Facilier eyeing her and she slipped on the headphones to avoid being talked to. After waiting for another fifteen minutes, Aurora came rushing out of the airport, apologizing profusely. She stepped into the van and Regina saw Leroy tapping on his steering wheel impatiently. Just as he had started the engine ten minutes later, Emma came dashing out of the airport. Relief flooded Regina, but she tried to hide it.

“Sorry!” Emma exclaimed as she climbed into the van. She ended up next to Regina and Regina tried to hide the blush that crept up as Emma’s shoulder bumped hers. “I missed my flight due to a call out. I was lucky to catch another flight,” she explained.

“You’re here,” Leroy huffed. “Buckle up, sweetheart.”

The engine revved and the van sped away from the airport.

~~~

The next morning, Emma walked into the restaurant. She’d had a good night and felt ready to face this day, she knew it promised to be a long one. She grabbed some scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast and looked around the restaurant. There weren’t many people downstairs and Emma was already walking to an empty table when she spotted Regina sitting in the far back. The brunette was studying her recipe book and Emma wasn’t sure if she should disturb her. Emma put down her food and decided to at least say good morning and bring Regina a cup of coffee. Emma walked back to the coffee machine and made another cup of coffee. She had no idea if Regina had milk or sugar in it, so she brought both. With a confident smile, she walked over to Regina’s table and placed the coffee on the table. Regina looked up slightly in confusion and pulled down the glasses she had on.

Emma swallowed, they looked very sexy on her.

“Good morning,” she said with a smile, trying hard to get her heart rate under control.

“Good morning, Miss Swan,” Regina replied coolly and eyed the coffee. “I don’t drink coffee,” she added.

“Oh,” Emma said and scratched the back of her head. “I didn’t know.”

“Was there anything you wanted?” Regina asked in the same cold tone.

“Eh, no, not in particular,” Emma said. “Just wanted to say good morning.”

“And I believe you did that,” Regina remarked. “If you don’t mind, I want to prepare in silence.”

“Uh, yeah,” Emma mumbled. “Sorry, I’ll leave you to it.”

Emma walked back and sat down. She tried not to look Regina’s way, but it was hard. She wondered if the nice Regina she saw last week was a fluke and if she was really just a bitch. Emma shook her head, she didn’t believe that. Regina just wanted to be ready for the challenge. Emma sighed and took out her own sketchbook and recipe book. She leafed through the recipes, trying to see if she could figure out the technical challenge. It would be Astrid’s turn today and Emma hoped it would be something she knew. Sooner than she had hoped, it was time to go. Leroy was waiting for them in the parking lot of the hotel and Emma climbed into the van. Regina was still ignoring her, putting on a pair of heavy headphones demonstratively. Emma pulled out a pair of earplugs herself and put on some random music. She spotted the white tent and she knew they were almost there. She felt the nerves flare up, but she reminded herself she could do this. She stepped out of the van and went through the motions of getting ready for the filming. They were called into the tent and Emma expected they would start filming soon, but it took longer than normal. As they waited, Emma saw Facilier walk over to Regina’s counter and start talking to her. Emma couldn’t hear what he said, but she could tell from Regina’s body language she wasn’t amused. Yet Facilier didn’t notice or he didn’t want to, because he kept talking to her. Emma was about to walk up to them to rescue Regina and kick Facilier back into his corner when the production leader stepped into the tent.

“I’m sorry for the delay, we are ready now,” he announced.

Emma settled back behind her counter and saw Facilier walk back to his. She spotted Regina’s annoyed look and tried to catch her gaze, but Regina kept ignoring her. Emma took a deep breath and hoped she was pulling a straight face as the cameras started rolling.

Robért, Astrid, Killian, and Ariel entered the tent with big smiles, Emma spotted Killian walking with a slight limp. She wondered what happened to him and if he was the reason for their delay.

“Welcome to dessert week,” Ariel opened and she looked radiant as ever. “For today’s signature challenge we want you to make a mascarpone,” she told them.

“The dessert needs to be big enough for a whole family. The filling is up to you, but it needs to be warm,” Killian continued. “You have an hour for this challenge.”

“On your marks,” Ariel sing-songed.

“Get ready,” Killian attempted the same but failed.

“Bake!” both of them sang.

Emma immediately set to work, she already had this one planned out. She would need to keep a tight schedule, it would take at least twenty minutes to bake and she needed to make a lot of layers. She started with preheating the oven and set the alarm. Then she started to make the sponge cakes and poured the egg yolks and the right amount of sugar in the bowl and put them under the mixer. She kept an eye on it as she whipped the egg whites. She was just done with the whipping up the egg whites into different peaks as Robért and Astrid appeared before her counter, followed by the camera.

“Hello,” Robért greeted her, eyeing her as she evened out the batter into the pans. “How are you?” he asked.

“Hi,” Emma smiled up at him. “I’m doing good, kinda in a rush,” she joked.

Robért chuckled. “What are you making?” he asked.

“I’m making a lemon mascarpone layer cake,” she told them.

“And is that a recipe I spot there?” Robért teased, pointing at the piece of paper on the counter.

Emma smirked and nodded. “This is one of the few actual recipes I own. I got this from one of my foster mothers, she taught me how to bake,” Emma told him.

Robért nodded impressed. “Good luck,” he said and moved on to the next counter.

Emma looked away from him and could just see Regina rolling her eyes. She frowned but concentrated back on what she was doing. She placed the batter in the oven and turned it on. She set the timer for eighteen minutes, that should be enough. While she made the lemon syrup that would be brushed onto the cake, she wondered why Regina was rolling her eyes. Had she caught the little interview? Emma decided now was not the time to worry about that, she needed to nail this.  
When she was done, she checked on the batter, deemed it not ready yet, and went to make the filling. Luckily, she had made this often, so she hardly used the recipe. The alarm on the oven went off and Emma pulled out the baked cake. When she saw how it turned out, she nodded appreciatively. At that exact moment, a camera was pointed at her and smiled.

“Turned out perfect,” she smiled as she stuck up her thumb.

The camera glided on and Emma had to admit she was getting used to the cameras. She loosened the cake out of the tin and started to make the slices.

“Fifteen more minutes!” Killian suddenly called.

Emma grimaced, she needed to hurry. Quickly she picked up the filling and started to assemble the cake. Soon there was a five-layered cake standing proudly on the plate. Emma smiled, it had turned out exactly how she wanted. She removed the parchment from the top layer and nodded satisfied. She moistened the cake with the leftover syrup and started the spread the mascarpone evenly over the cake. She just laid down the spatula when Killian called time and she breathed out in relief. She did it. The filming stopped and they were ordered out of the tent. Emma went over to the spot where she dropped her backpack and sat down. She drank from her bottle as she watched the crew clean up the tent. Emma couldn’t quite see what Regina had made, it was placed in little bowls.  
She looked over to Regina and saw Facilier was talking to her once again. Emma saw Regina shaking her head and walking off. Emma could see Facilier wanted to go after her, but luckily Mulan stepped up to her. Facilier thought better of it and walked off to the coffee tent. Emma took a deep breath and diverted her eyes away from Regina with difficulty. There was no point in catching feelings, especially after this morning. Emma still felt the shiver go down her back as she thought about the cold look Regina had sent her. She pulled out her phone and started to scroll through Facebook. Lily had sent her a little clip where Cheese was chasing August through the firehouse and Emma chuckled. A tap on her shoulder made her look up, Nova from the production crew stood next to her.

“Can we tape your intermezzo’s?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah, of course,” Emma smiled and jumped to her feet.

Nova led her to the normal spot where they shot the little solo interviews and Emma stood at the appointed spot.

“This is the third-week shooting, how are you liking it so far?” Nova asked off-camera.

Emma smiled into the camera. “I love it. The competition is hard, but I expected that. I mean, we’re in week three, it’s getting serious now!” she said.

“Who do you miss the most?” Nova prompted and Emma knew the questions would be cut out.

“I miss Cheese the most,” she said, knowing no one would know who she meant and she chuckled. “Cheese is my rescue dog,” she explained. “I saved him from a fire when he was a pup. I can’t wait to see him again.”

“Are you confident about your first bake of the day?” Nova asked.

“Yes, I am. I think my mascarpone turned exactly how I had hoped it would. Let’s hope the judges think the same,” Emma replied.

The red light above the camera turned off and Emma relaxed.

“Thank you,” Nova smiled at her.

“You’re welcome,” Emma smirked and started to walk back to the tent.

She broke out in a sprint when she saw Mulan was waving at her. “They are waiting for you,” Mulan hollered at her.

“Shit,” Emma muttered and sprinted back into the tent. “Sorry, Nova pulled me aside for the intermezzo,” she explained.

“No problem,” Sidney nodded and Emma quickly hopped on the stool.

Her mascarpone cake had been placed on the end of her counter, showing it off nicely. Emma smirked as she looked at it, she was still very happy with the end result. The camera’s started rolling and Emma put on a brave face. From her spot, she could just see what Regina had made and it looked delicious. One by one they were called over to the judges. Emma went as one of the last and both of the judges were impressed. Still, it was Regina who won this challenge by a landslide. Emma applauded and she had to admit that Regina deserved it.

~~~

The day hadn’t ended too late, their technical challenge had gone like a charm, Emma had won the challenge. Regina had to agree, Emma’s had been the best one out there. They had made it in time back to the hotel to grab dinner. In an attempt to be social, Regina decided to stay down in the lobby with the rest of the group after dinner. Mulan had told her they always hung around the lobby after dinner to talk about the past day. Initially, Regina hadn’t wanted to stay as she was really tired, but she could use some good times. Facilier had been hanging around her and she was getting tired of him. He didn’t take no for an answer and kept pushing for a date.

“Hey, glad you could join us, your majesty!” Ruby smirked when Regina joined them.

Regina sent her a glare, which only made Ruby laugh harder. Regina ordered something to drink and settled into one of the empty chairs. She observed the others as they talked amicably with each other. Regina sighed, clearly she had missed the bonding moment. She didn’t really mind, she was more of an observer anyway. Her eyes almost immediately glided to Emma, she couldn’t help it.  
They had hardly talked today, which Regina guessed was on her. She had been very distant towards Emma and she hoped the blonde wasn’t too pissed at her. It was just that she couldn’t figure out why she felt so…attracted to Emma. She didn’t know why her heart was pounding only by looking at her, or why there was something fluttering in her stomach. When Emma glanced her way, Regina quickly concentrated on her glass of scotch, hoping Emma hadn’t seen her looking. Regina swallowed thickly, what was wrong with her? Why couldn’t she stop looking at Emma, let alone stop thinking about her? Regina hadn’t been able to get Emma out of her head all week, yearning to be with her again. But now that she had the chance, she was too scared.

“Hey.”

Regina startled and looked up. Facilier was standing next to her, looking down at her with a so-called charming grin. Regina closed her eyes, trying not to fly off the handle immediately.

“Look, Facilier,” Regina started as she stood up. “I’ve told you a couple of times, I’m not going to go out with you. Like ever.”

“Ah, she’s only playing hard to get,” he chuckled. “You can stop the pretenses now, sweetheart,” he smiled sweetly.

Regina took another deep breath, but it didn’t help. She slapped him hard across the face, earning her a collective gasp from the rest. “I hope you got the message now, creep,” she snarled.

She emptied her glass in one go and dashed out of the lobby. She gasped for air as she shut the door of her hotel room behind her. Her hand was still stinging and it had never felt this good. She wouldn’t have thought she would slap someone, but he deserved. Regina chuckled, she was fairly certain he had gotten the message. She took a quick shower and hopped into bed. Her mind was still buzzing, though, and she grabbed the iPad she had brought with her. She opened Facebook and scrolled through it, but there wasn’t much on it. Before Regina could stop herself, she already had typed in Emma’s name. Regina sat up against the headboard as she scrolled through Emma’s page. Emma didn’t post much, most of it was related to firefighting or dogs. Then she came past a photo album called ‘Calendar 2019’ and curiously she pressed it. Most pictures were with half-naked firefighters in their uniform and she wondered why Emma had this on her page. Then she came across July and it was Emma standing wide-legged and her eyes closed as water was coming up behind her. She had her arms raised to her head, holding her helmet. She was only wearing the pants from her uniform and a black sports bra. Emma’s toned arms were taught and her abs were showing off nicely. Regina’s mouth went dry at the sight and she felt a warm tingle settling in her lower stomach. That feeling she knew. She was aroused. In a sudden movement, Regina shut off her iPad. This was not happening. She couldn’t get aroused like this by a woman. Right? She had never felt attracted to a woman before, never even looked at them twice. Regina turned off the lights and curled up underneath the covers. She squeezed her eyes shut, but that was a mistake. The picture of Emma immediately popped up and Regina groaned in frustration. The warmth between her legs was growing and she could feel it pooling. She knew there was no way she could fall asleep like this.  
Excruciatingly slow, her hand slid down her body. Her hips were bucking in anticipation as she slid her hand under the waistband of her sweat pants. Heat was radiating and Regina slid her hand into her panties. She groaned when her deft fingers reached her clit. She was dripping wet and, as her eyes were still closed, she kept seeing Emma. She imagined Emma was touching her, kissing her and teasing her. Regina slid two fingers into her and began pumping in herself. She curled her fingers up and she bucked her hips as she imagined it was Emma’s long and slender fingers sliding in her. Regina groaned loudly as she grounded her fingers deep into her, feeling the pull deep in her stomach. She knew she was close, but she needed more. Blindly, she grabbed for the iPad, turned it back on, and took in the image of a half-naked Emma again. Her thumb brushed her clit and that sent her over the edge.

“EMMAAAA!”

Gasping for air, Regina came back to earth. She tried to wrap her head around what just happened and realized what she had done. She had masturbated to a picture of a woman and had never come this hard before. As she caught her breath, Regina stared up at the ceiling trying to figure out what this meant. Was she actually getting feelings for Emma or was it just that she hadn’t gotten laid in a long while? But then why didn’t she get aroused by Killian, for example?

Because he’s an idiot and not even that handsome.

Regina nodded, she had to agree with her mind. Killian was no way near as handsome as everyone made him out to be and off the set he was kind of an ass. He never said hi in passing, always feeling better than everyone else. Regina shook her head, she was getting sidetracked. Why had she gotten so aroused by Emma? To be honest, Regina had felt the pull right from the first weekend they had spent here. Regina pulled her hand out her panties and sighed. If her soaked panties were any sign to go by, they would tell her she was falling hard for Miss Free Wheeling….

~~~

The next morning rolled around way too soon for Emma’s liking. She had stayed in the lobby longer then she had planned, talking with Mulan and Ruby about that slap. Facilier had fled the scene right after Regina, holding his cheek. Emma had always found him creepy and he was totally not her type.  
Ever since she was a teenager she knew she was gay. It wasn’t something she was floundering with, but all her friends knew and she had never gotten any hate for it. She never really had a relationship, it was very hard to maintain one with her job. Whenever she wanted the itch to scratch, she would find a one night stand and be done with it. She had never been the girl with the strings attached and she liked it that way. It helped her to do her job, she was never afraid of having someone that was scared for her life. No, she would rather be alone. Yet it seemed something had changed lately. Ever since she joined this competition and met Regina, she started to yearn for someone in her life. And to be honest, she hadn’t been able to get Regina out of her mind all week. Emma walked into the restaurant and saw Regina was already sitting at her usual table in the back, buried deep in her recipe book. Emma decided not to disturb her this time and grabbed some breakfast. As she searched for a place to sit, Ruby waved her over. Emma walked over to her and sat down.

“Good morning.” Ruby yawned.

“Morning,” Emma chuckled. “Late night?” she asked.

Ruby glanced at her watch. “I went to bed three hours ago.”

Emma whistled as she buttered her toast. “I know who is going to spend hours in the makeup tent,” she grinned.

“Fuck you,” Ruby mumbled and tried to wake up.

Emma smirked as she ate her breakfast. She fetched some more coffee for Ruby and she glanced over at Regina’s table. By chance, Regina looked up and caught her stare. Regina's eyes went big and a blush crept up her cheeks before she quickly ducked her head. Emma frowned and walked back to her table. Ruby accepted the coffee thankfully as Emma kept glancing at Regina. It was as if Regina could feel her staring, she never lifted her head up again. Emma got distracted when Facilier walked into the restaurant, looking distraught.

“Look who dared to show his face,” Emma chuckled. “I think he even has a black eye.”

Ruby looked up and chuckled dryly. “He’s a creep. I hope he gets sent away today.”

“Me too,” Emma agreed.

They finished breakfast and were soon on their way. Emma went through her sketchbook again, knowing she was ready for this challenge. She closed the sketchbook and saw Regina was listening to her music again. She wondered what she was listening too, the brunette looked peaceful with her eyes closed. A smile crept up Emma’s face, Regina looked beautiful. A push against her arm made Emma look up, Ruby smirked at her.

“Keep it in your pants until after the competition,” she said.

“Fuck off,” Emma replied and smirked.

Ruby was right, she needed to keep her head into the game. This was an important day, she needed to nail this. Emma looked out the window and saw they had arrived. They were rushed through the makeup and Emma had been right, Ruby had taken the longest in the trailer. When Ruby had exited, she had flipped off Emma, who had been laughing her head off. Now they all were standing back in the tent, ready for the showstopper. Sidney soon signaled they started filming and Killian, Ariel, Astrid, and Robért entered the tent.

“For today’s showstopper, the judges want you to make a dreamland cake. You can use layers, but you don’t have to. But it has to be cloudy and dreamy and big enough for the whole family. You have got five hours for this challenge,” Ariel told them.

“On your marks, get ready…. Bake!” Killian called.

Emma quickly set to work, five hours would be close for what she wanted to make. She set to work to make the ice for her ice cake. It needed to be in the freezer for at least four hours, so that wouldn’t leave her much time to finish the cake. She dashed to the freezer and managed to glance at what Regina was making. She saw some puffed up meringue and knew immediately what Regina was making, a Baked Alaska. Emma knew she could wave goodbye to star baker, that was way better. Emma shook her head, she needed to concentrate at this. She placed the liquid ice mix in the freezer and dashed back to her counter. She set the timer and started making the filling and prayed she would have enough time. A bit more than four hours later, Emma pulled the ice out of the freezer and was happy to see it had turned out perfect. She dashed back to her counter and started to unwrap the ice. She nodded satisfied when she saw it was deeply frozen.

“Fifteen more minutes!” Ariel called.

Emma swore softly and started to decorate the cake. She piped it up with light-colored icing and poured the lemon-flavored syrup over it. Sweat was pouring over her face, but she ignored it. Quickly she finished off the cake and put down the piping bag when Killian called time. Satisfied Emma walked out of the tent, glad to be off her feet. She plopped down on the grass and closed her eyes for a minute…

~~~

Regina felt like she was swaying on her feet. That had been four intense hours and she barely managed to finish on time. She hoped for dear life her meringue had set enough and wouldn’t collapse. She walked over to the coffee bar and grabbed an espresso. As she waited for the coffee to be ready, her eyes roamed over the patch of grass where everyone was sitting until her eyes landed on Emma. Emma was lying stretched out, her eyes closed and her arms folded under her head. Her shirt had moved up a bit and if Regina squinted, she could just make out Emma’s abs.

“She looks pretty hot, doesn’t she?”

Regina startled, pulled her gaze away from Emma, and found Mulan standing next to her smirking.

“What?” Regina asked, frowning, and grabbed her coffee.

“Emma,” Mulan said. “She looks pretty hot.”

“I… I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Regina protested, trying very hard not to turn red.

“Uhuh, sure,” Mulan chuckled. “That’s why you look so guilty.”

“I do not,” Regina huffed and walked off.

Mulan watched her go and smirked, shaking her head. Next to her, Ruby chuckled.

“Regina is so smitten,” she said.

“Does she know that?” Mulan chuckled as they walked to an empty spot.

“No,” Ruby laughed. “She is deep in the closet still.”

“I think Emma’s going to help her get out of the closet,” Mulan said.

Ruby shook her head. “Nah. Regina will never allow that,” she said.

“How do you know?” Mulan asked curiously. Ruby suddenly looked guilty, as if she said too much. “Do you know Regina?” Mulan whispered, her eyes went big.

Ruby looked around her and nodded. “We live in the same city,” she admitted.

“No way!” Mulan exclaimed.

“Ssssh!” Ruby urged. “No one knows.”

“Damn,” Mulan chuckled. “That is big gossip you’re holding out on us.”

“Regina will kill me if she finds out I told you,” Ruby said, glancing anxiously at Regina.

Mulan made the motion of zipping her lips and throwing away the key. “She won’t hear it from me,” she promised.

“Thanks,” Ruby mumbled.

“Anyway, wanna bet?” Mulan suggested.

“Sure,” Ruby smirked. “I bet Regina is going to reject Emma because she’s too scared to come out.”

“I think Emma is going to ask Regina out and succeed,” Mulan smirked.

“Deal,” Ruby smirked.

~~~

Almost an hour later they were called back into the tent and Emma prayed her ice hadn’t melted. Luckily it was still frozen and Nova told her they had put it into the freezer for her. Emma was very thankful for that. The cameras started rolling and Killian, Ariel, Robért, and Astrid came walking back into the tent. One by one they brought over the cakes and were judged. Astrid was very praiseful over Emma’s iced cake, Robért wasn’t really impressed. He had expected more from her. Emma took it gracefully and made a mental note for next week. After everyone was judged, they were called upfront.

“This week I’ve been chosen to announce this week’s star baker,” Killian started with a big smile. “The judges were impressed with their signature challenge, deeming it the best. Their showstopper was mind-blowing,” he summed up. “So this week’s star baker is…. Regina!”

Emma smiled, the brunette had earned it. Her baked Alaska looked like heaven and Emma made a mental note to try and snatch a piece of it. Regina smiled broadly and when their gazes finally met, Emma stuck up her thumbs. Regina seemed to glow even brighter after that.

“So that leaves me the daunting task of revealing who is going to leave is,” Ariel said, her voice sounded lower than normal. Emma frowned, would one of the better ones be leaving? She doubted it, as she had seen Facilier wasn’t doing well this week. “We are going to have to say goodbye to… Facilier.”

Emma tried very hard to hide her satisfied smirk, that slimeball of a jerk deserved to go. Emma made her way through the crowd to Regina and finally managed to reach her.

“Congratulations,” she smiled up to Regina.

“Thank you,” Regina beamed.

She seemed to hesitate for a split second, then pulled Emma into a hug. Emma was surprised for a second, then she wrapped her arms around the brunette. She took in the intoxicating smell and closed her eyes. Regina’s arms around her felt so natural and Emma felt herself floating. But before she could actually think of it, the hug was over and Regina had already darted over to someone else. Emma watched her go, wearing a stupid grin as she saw Regina didn’t hug anyone like she had hugged Emma…

~~~

The airport was almost deserted when Leroy dropped the group off. Most of the group rushed off to catch their plane. Regina knew she had to wait for a couple of more hours and slowly, she made her way to her gate. She pulled out her phone out of her pocket and texted Henry.

“Regina!”

Regina whipped around and saw a blur of blond running towards her. She frowned and blushed when she recognized Emma. She hadn’t forgotten what she had done the night before.

“I…” Emma gasped when she stopped in front of Regina and Regina watched amused as Emma tried to catch her breath. “I want to congratulate you properly,” she finally said.

Regina frowned surprised. “You already did that,” she said.

“Yeah, when everyone else was around,” Emma protested. “But I didn’t get a change to say it in private,” she explained.

“Why, thank you, miss Swan,” Regina smiled at her and turned back around to stroll to her gate.

“Regina?”

Regina turned around, seeing Emma standing there, only wearing a backpack. She looked lonely and Regina felt for her.

“Yes?” she asked.

“I…” Emma walked towards her. “My flight isn’t until a couple of hours. Do.. Do you want to wait together maybe?” she asked.

Regina hesitated, she thought of the book in her bag. Then she looked back at Emma who looked really lost and alone. Regina melted a bit at the sight and nodded.

“Of course.”

A smile broke on Emma’s face and they plopped down at a waiting area in between their gates. Emma settled in a chair across from her, putting the back pack in between her legs.

“Thank you for waiting with me,” Emma said, not looking up at Regina. “I don’t do so well waiting on my own,” she added.

“No problem at all,” Regina said. “Why don’t you do well waiting on your own?” she asked curious. “If you don’t want to tell, that’s totally fine.”

Emma smiled softly and shook her head. “I think it has to do with the fact I’m never really alone. At work I have my fire fighter family and at home I have my roommate and Cheese.”

“Cheese?” Regina asked curious, she didn’t really get it.

Emma chuckled and looked up. “Cheese is my dog. He’s a rescue and went without a name after I rescued him. One day he stole my cheeseburger and voila, he was called Cheese.”

Regina smiled at the story, she could picture the dog nicking Emma’s sandwich. “What sort of dog is he?” Regina asked.

“Dalmatian,” Emma told her and pulled her phone out of her pocket, scrolling through her pictures. She turned the phone so Regina could see the picture. “That’s him.”

“Aaawe, he looks very cute,” Regina smiled.

“He can be a little devil,” Emma chuckled. “You got any pets?” she asked as she put away her phone.

Regina shook her head. “A teenage bay is enough to handle.”

Emma chuckled. They landed in an easy going chat, until Emma’s flight was called. Emma stood up and swung her bag on her back.

“Thank you again,” she said, as she stood there a little awkward.

“It was my pleasure,” Regina replied. “Have a safe flight.”

“Thank you, you too. See you next week!”

Emma waved and walked off. Regina watched her go and hoped she would land safely…


	5. Chapter 5

Emma was halfway through making her tart for the signature challenge. Nova had told them they would have an hour for this one and Emma was determined to make it work. She had already shaved off a few minutes in the preparation time, so if she kept this up, she might just manage. She prayed for dear life she wouldn’t get a call out now because that would ruin her tart for sure. Cheese was nibbling on the bone she had given him in the corner of the kitchen, looking up every once in a while. August stepped into the kitchen and looked at the ingredients that were waiting to be used and he frowned.

“I thought you were going to make a tart,” he said, pointing at the vegetables.

“I am,” Emma smirked.

August frowned again. “Are you sure?” he asked.

Emma laughed. “Healthy tarts exist, you know?” she winked.

“I know,” he replied, wrinkling his nose.

Emma laughed at his face and shook her head. She glanced at the clock and saw she needed to hurry. She quickly finished assembling the tart and put it in the oven. She set the timer and walked down the stairs to find Lily. She found Lily restocking the ambulance and she climbed into the back of the ambulance.

“Hey,” she said and Lily looked up.

“Hey,” the brunette smiled. “What’s up?” she asked as she looked at her friend.

Emma shrugged. “Not much. Hoping my tart will be good,” she replied as she stared outside.

The ambulance was parked with the nose pointing into the house and the back to the yard of the firehouse.

“It better be, I’m starving,” Lily smirked.

Emma checked her watch and grinned. “Then you have to wait for another 45 minutes.”

“Dammit,” Lily grimaced and went back to refilling.

They just had a call out and Lily liked to be on top of the stock in her ambulance. It hadn’t been a big call out, just an accident between a car and a truck. The driver of the car had to be cut out the car. Lily and Kim-Joy had transported the man to the hospital because he was complaining about his neck.  
Emma spotted someone lingering at the entrance of the firehouse and she frowned. She stood up and walked over to the older lady. The woman was anxiously looking at the ambulance and startled when Emma walked up to her.

“Hello,” Emma greeted the woman friendly.

“Uh, hi,” the woman smiled nervously, her eyes skittered from Emma to the ambulance and back.

“Can I help you, ma’am?” Emma asked as she stopped a few feet away from the woman.

“Uh, no,” the woman replied, fixing her attention on Emma. “Sorry to have bothered you.”

Emma frowned as the woman hurriedly walked away. She watched as the woman disappeared around the corner and Emma walked back to the ambulance.

“Who was that?” Lily asked as Emma hopped back in the ambulance.

“No idea,” Emma replied.

“Strange,” Lily replied and sat down next to Emma. “Nervous for next weekend?” she asked.

“A bit,” Emma said. “Only the really good ones are left now. It’s gonna be a hard battle,” she added.

“You got this,” Lily smiled. “Especially with that delicious tart of yours.”

Emma chuckled. “Thanks.” She shook her head. “I don’t know, Lil. The judges are really hard asses.”

“Even Astrid?” Lily asked surprised.

“Even her,” Emma said. Cheese came walking towards her, barking softly. Emma scratched his ear as she looked up at Lily. “And Killian is no way near as handsome as he is on tv.”

“Really?” Lily pulled a face. “That is a bummer. I wanted to ask you to arrange a date for me.”

Emma smirked. “Nuh-uh. No way.”

A beeper went off upstairs and Emma jumped out of the ambulance. Lily followed her, water was already filling her mouth. They walked upstairs and Emma pulled out the freshly baked pie in one fluid movement. She stuck a thermometer in it and nodded satisfied, it had baked long enough and hot enough.

“Can I?” Lily asked eagerly.

“Sure, if you want to burn your mouth,” Emma laughed.

Lily pouted as she watched the tart, hoping it would cool down soon…

~~~

Regina was beyond confused. Emma was haunting her mind day and night and Regina didn’t seem to be able to shake her off. During the week she had needed to masturbate multiple times as thinking about Emma turned her on again and again. Regina didn’t know if she could look Emma straight in the eye the coming weekend, she was of half a mind that Emma would see it. She felt so embarrassed but she couldn’t help it. Emma was just so…. hot. Emma haunting her mind didn’t really help her preparations for the challenge either. She had let two tarts burn because she was daydreaming about Emma’s abs. So, today, she was trying again. She was halfway done with her showstopper when there was a knock on the backdoor and Zelena stepped into the kitchen.

“That smells divine,” Zelena smiled as she shed off her coat.

“Thanks,” Regina smiled. “You can taste it later. Henry is home late today because of practice,” she added.

“Great,” Zelena smiled as she settled at the kitchen island. She looked at Regina’s well-practiced moves and at her concentrated face. “How have you been?” Zelena suddenly asked. “Haven’t seen you in a while,” she added.

Regina looked up and realized Zelena was right. With all the preparations for the competition and her work at the town hall, she barely had had time to see Zelena.

“I’ve been good,” Regina smiled as she placed the tart in the oven. She removed the mittens and sat down at the kitchen island as well. “I’m sorry I haven’t been by,” she said truthfully.

“It’s okay,” Zelena waved away. “So, any potential lovers walking around there?” she bluntly asked.

Regina, who had just taken a sip of water, choked. She tried very hard to suppress the blood rising to her cheeks, but judging by Zelena’s amused face she was failing.

“Not really,” Regina mumbled as her coughing fit had died down.

“Uhuh,” Zelena chuckled. “That face tells me otherwise,” she said. “Spill!”

Regina groaned, she knew she couldn’t hide this for her sister. Zelena knew her way too well and Regina was a bad liar. She took a deep breath and looked up at her sister.

“There may be someone,” she admitted.

“See! I knew it!” Zelena said victoriously. “So, is he cute?” she asked further.

Regina smiled softly as she thought of Emma’s kind, caring eyes. “I think so, yes.”

“Sweet,” Zelena smiled. “Does he like you too?” she asked curiously.

Regina shrugged. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “We hardly talked for real.”

Now Regina knew she was lying, she had talked with Emma. After their second showstopper, they had been talking while sitting on the grass. Regina had opened up more than to anyone before and Emma had been so kind. Emma didn’t take life to heavy, she joked and laughed, whereas Regina seemed to carry the weight of the world, or at least Camden. Being mayor sometimes was hard and Regina didn’t always like it. Emma’s question about what she wanted after this had startled her. She had no idea what she wanted to do after this.

“Time to change that then,” Zelena smirked, pulling her out of her reverie.

Regina took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, I think so too.”

“You need to tell me everything when you do,” Zelena smirked, she was always in for gossip. “So, what’s his name?”

Regina opened her mouth, not sure what to say when the alarm of the oven went off. Literally saved by the bell, Regina dove behind the counter. She opened the oven and pulled out a perfectly baked tart. Zelena looked at it with greedy eyes and was already reaching for it.

“Are you crazy?” Regina asked, slapping her hands away. “It needs to cool off first.”

Zelena pouted, staring at the tart. Regina chuckled at the sight and was glad to have dodged Zelena’s questions for now…

~~~

The weekend arrived way too soon for Emma’s liking, but as she was sitting in the café waiting for their ride, she couldn’t deny she was feeling excited, both because she felt positive about the upcoming challenge and because she would be seeing Regina again. She couldn’t hide the smile when she thought of the brunette and hoped she would finally be able to have a proper talk with her this weekend. Even though they had briefly spoken only a couple of times, Emma wanted to know more. Regina was a mystery to her and Emma couldn’t wait to unravel that mystery. She looked up when the door of the café opened and Ruby and Regina came walking in. Ruby spotted Emma first and immediately walked over to her booth. To Emma’s surprise, Regina followed her and slid into the booth next to Ruby in the far corner. She didn’t look directly at Emma, but smiled as she said hi.

“Hi,” Emma smiled back and frowned, why wouldn’t Regina look up? “Had a good trip?” she asked.

“Yeah, no problem,” Ruby replied, eyeing Regina with a raised eyebrow. “Whenever this is over I have to get used to not flying over here every week,” she chuckled.

Emma smirked and nodded. “We could still do it,” she said. “Then we can just hang out with everyone from the competition,” she added.

“As long as Facilier doesn’t join, I’m in,” Regina said, finally looking up.

She avoided eye contact with Emma, but she leaned on the table, opening up her body language. It was only now that Emma spotted the small scar on her upper lip.

Emma looked up when she felt Regina’s eyes on her and caught her gaze. The sight that unfolded before her was truly mesmerizing. Regina’s chocolate brown dull eyes slowly turned a few shades dark while getting a shine in them at the same time. A blush crept up her cheek and it was all Emma could do not to reach up and cup Regina’s cheek. Emma swallowed thickly, maintaining eye contact.  
The sound of a cup of coffee landing on the table broke the spell and Regina looked away, ducking her head in the shadow. Emma yearned to scoot over next to her to brush those brown locks away and lift Regina’s head up again. She wanted to see those eyes again and she wanted to know what that expression meant.

“Deal!” Ruby exclaimed, unaware of what was happening between Emma and Regina.

Emma pulled the cup of coffee towards her and lifted her head up to face Ruby. She could feel Regina’s eyes burn in the side of her head, but she didn’t turn to Regina just yet. “Sounds like a plan,” she grinned. The door opened and Tink and Peter walked in, arguing about something. Ruby looked up, distracted, and now Emma looked finally at Regina. Regina held her gaze briefly before looking away again. Emma frowned, she really couldn’t get her finger on what was going on here. Tink came over to the table to greet Emma and Regina as well and Emma rose from the booth. It was too small to sit at it with all of them, only Regina kept sitting. As Emma talked with Tink, her eyes slid to Regina again. She was like a magnet, Emma couldn’t keep her eyes off of her. Emma couldn’t quite place the expression Regina had, it looked like utter confusion.

“Guys, our ride is here,” Belle suddenly called.

They all gathered their stuff and walked out of the café after paying for the drinks.

“Maybe we should open up a tab here,” Peter joked as they stepped on the van, Leroy didn’t even bother to get out anymore.

“And the loser pays,” Ruby smirks.

“Deal,” Tink smirked.

Emma chuckled and dove into the van. Before she could see where she sat down, she found herself next to Regina, who had already slipped on her headphones. Emma sighed, this would be a long ride…

~~~

Regina woke up late the next morning. She woke up from the sound of a text message and when she saw the time she realized she didn’t have time for breakfast. The van would be here in ten minutes and she wasn’t even dressed yet. She hopped into the shower for a quick shower and got dressed in record time. She was halfway out of the door when she dashed back into her room to grab her sketchbook and recipe book. She sprinted down the stairs and saw she was just in time, the rest of the group were getting in the van. She stepped into the van and plopped down in the first seat she saw. She gasped for air, closing her eyes to catch her breath. As she opened her eyes, her vision was blurry and she felt shaky. She blinked and her sight cleared. The shaky feeling stayed however and Regina tried to breathe through it.

“Are you okay?” someone next to her asked and Regina saw Belle was sitting next to her, looking worried.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Regina assured her. “Just overslept.”

“Did you eat something?” Belle asked still worried.

“Not yet, I’ll eat when we get there,” Regina answered and closed her eyes. She felt so tired.

A door slammed open and Regina woke with a start. She blinked to get her sight clear and, sluggishly, she stood up. She grabbed her stuff with her and walked with the rest to the makeup trailer. As she waited, she grabbed a cup of coffee and the last half of a sandwich. She knew it wouldn’t be enough, but it had to do. Just as she was about to eat, she got called into the makeup tent. The bright lights caused a pounding behind her eyes and she breathed deeply. When she was done, she walked to get the sandwich and her coffee, but they were gone.

“Who took my coffee?” she demanded. No one replied, some looked scared back. “Dammit,” she swore loudly.

She was about to walk to the catering cart to get another sandwich when Nova showed up to guide them to the tent. Regina grumbled, apparently she wasn’t allowed to eat. Regina knotted the apron tight on her back and walked up to her counter. The bright lights shining down on her made her headache worse, but she bit through it. Sydney signaled for the filming to start and Regina put on her mask. Killian, Ariel, Robért, and Astrid walked in smiling brightly.

“Welcome back to the tent, bakers,” Ariel started. “This week is tart week and I hope all of you have practiced! The judges will get stricter and the competition harder!”

“For today’s signature challenge we want you to make a tart that you would serve your friends and family for tea. You can choose the filling, but it has to have the form of a cake, no layers,” Killian explained. “You’ll have 2 hours.”

Regina blinked, she needed to do something. As if on automatic pilot, she grabbed the stuff she needed and started to make the batter for her tart. Luckily she practiced it a lot, she didn’t need to pay that much attention.

The sound of a falling cake tin made her jump and turn around in anger.

“Can you not?” she hissed to whoever had dropped it.

Emma looked up at her with big ‘deer-caught-in-the-light’ eyes.

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

Regina’s blood pressure lowered when she saw it was Emma and she nodded before going back to work. She leaned heavily on the counter, her head hung down and her eyes were closed. She took a deep breath and went to work again. She was glad they didn’t come over to her for an interview, she didn’t think she could do it. Regina managed to get the tart in the oven in time and started making the filling. Her hands were shaking as she started mixing and her mind felt scattered as she tried to remember the recipe. Then she remembered she had brought her recipe book and quickly she searched for the right recipe. She hummed as she found it and set to work again.

“Fifteen more minutes,” Killian announced.

Regina grimaced, she was running out of time. The alarm of the oven went off and she pulled out the baked cake. It looked good enough and Regina started to pour the filling it. Satisfied she looked at the end result and wiped the sweat of her brow.

“Bakers, stop your baking,” Ariel announced. “That means now, Peter,” she added sternly.

The filming stopped and Regina practically stumbled out of the tent. Shivers suddenly run over her back and she pulled her vest tighter around her. She sank to the ground and leaned her head on her pulled up knees. The shakiness was back and she didn’t seem to grasp one solid thought. Everything was tumbling over each other and it was hard to focus. When someone tapped her shoulder, she sluggishly lifted her head. Her eyelids were so heavy. Belle stood next to her, holding a cup of tea and a biscuit.

“Are you okay?” she asked worried.

“Yeah,” Regina replied weakly and took the tea from Belle. “Don’t worry about me,” she added.

Belle left reluctantly as Regina devoured the biscuit. She let the tea cool down for a bit before she drank that as well. The shivers finally stopped and her mind seemed to clear a bit. Her eyelids were still heavy and Regina wouldn't mind if anyone had told her she could go get some sleep. Nova showed up again to announce they were expected back into the tent. Regina mustered all the strength she had and stood up. She walked to her counter and saw everything had been cleaned. Her tart had been showcased at the end of the counter. Regina pulled the stool closer and sat down on it. One by one they walked to the judge with their tart. Finally, it was Regina’s turn and she carried her tart to Robért and Astrid.

“That looks good,” Astrid smiled.

Robért cut off two pieces and both of them cut their pieces in half. Robért held it up and studied the cake.

“The pastry is a bit dry, I think,” he said. “A bit overbaked.”

Astrid at taken a bite. “A bit dry indeed, but the taste is good. You really taste the onion and is that bacon?”

As Astrid kept looking at her, Regina realized Astrid had been talking to her. Astrid’s words were still processing through her sluggish mind and quickly Regina nodded.

“It is,” she replied, but her tongue felt like led.

Astrid shot a worried look at her but covered it up quickly. “Bold choice,” she added. “It worked out perfectly. Well done.”

Regina smiled, picked up her tart, and walked back to her counter. Peter went up last and eventually Emma was declared the winner. Regina smiled up at her and walked out of the tent. She couldn’t wait until this day was over…

~~~

Emma had been observing Regina all day and she didn’t look too good. Yet Belle said Regina had told her that she was fine and Emma left her alone. She might just have slept badly and Emma knew from experience that she shouldn’t bother someone who was sleep-deprived. Jake had proven to her time after time why it was a bad idea. Still, Emma couldn’t shake the idea that there was more going on. Once again, Emma looked over to the brunette sitting in the grass with her knees pulled up. She looked like she was close to falling asleep and Emma was about to go over when Nova appeared again. She called them back into the tent and Emma stood up. She looked over her shoulder and saw Regina was following them slowly. The cameras started rolling and Ariel, Killian, Astrid, and Robért came walking in.

“The next technical challenge comes from Astrid,” Killian starts. “She wants you to make twelve identical jam tarts,” he explains. “You have 45 minutes for this challenge. Astrid, any words?”

Astrid stepped forward. “Don’t overbake.”

Emma scoffed; that was as useful as a teaspoon. She glanced aside at Regina and saw Regina was looking at Killian with a glazed look over eyes. Emma frowned, there was definitely something wrong with Regina.

“On your marks, get ready…” Killian smiled.

“Bake!” Ariel all but called out.

Emma pulled the towel away and groaned at the very small recipe description. Luckily, she'd made jam tarts before so she had an idea what she needed to do. As she started to make the dough, she glanced again at Regina. The brunette was staring in utter confusion at her recipe and Emma’s frown grew deeper. This was not like Regina, she was always on top of things. Then it all went fast and slow at the same time. Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw Regina collapse on her counter and going for the ground. Emma dropped the bowl she was holding and was next to Regina in three big steps. She was just in time to prevent Regina’s head from hitting the floor. Emma quickly checked her pulse and breathed in relief when she felt a pulse. It was way too fast, but it was there. Then Emma noticed the clammy skin and suddenly it hit her. Regina’s mood swings, seeming dazed, almost falling asleep; she was having a hypo.

Emma set Regina up sideways into the recovery position and looked up at the gathered crowd.

“Does anyone know if she’s eaten today?” she asked urgently.

“No,” Belle replied. “She told me she’d overslept and hadn’t eaten breakfast.”

Emma nodded, it all added up now. Her mind raced, she knew what she needed to do. She once again looked up at the gathered crowd.

“Someone please get me my bag,” she ordered.

Ruby sped away and appeared a minute later with it in hand. Emma pulled out her emergency aid kit and got a glucagon injection from the hypo kit.

She was about to stick it in Regina’s arm when Sidney appeared.

“What are you doing?” he screamed. “Are you insane? We need to call an ambulance!”

“That would take too long. I’m a certified medic and firefighter,” Emma replied sharply and applied the shot. "She should be fine," she reassured the anxious crowd.

It took a few minutes for Regina to regain consciousness and dazed she looked around. “What happened?” she asked slowly.

“You passed out,” Emma told her. “Because you hadn’t been eating all day.”

“Oh yeah,” Regina replied, still slowly.

She tried to get up, but Emma stopped her. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Need… to… finish,” Regina replied as she weakly struggled against Emma’s grip.

“You are not going anywhere,” Emma decided and easily picked Regina up.

She carried her bridal style out of the tent and set Regina down in Killian’s chair. Emma saw Killian was about to protest, but she shot him a warning look. Regina still tried to get up from the chair but Emma knelt before her.

“I…need…” Regina started, but she was too weak to actually stand.

“You need to eat something,” Emma said.

Ruby came walking over to them with a jar of honey and a glass of juice, handing the latter to Regina. Regina looked at them frowning, then gave in. She accepted the glass and drank greedily. Then Ruby practically force-fed her a spoonful of honey. Regina all but groaned at the taste and Emma could see she needed this.

“No! We need to proceed.”

Emma frowned and saw Sidney was arguing with some of the production crew.

“But we can’t go on,” she heard him say. “She is clearly in no state to go on.”

Emma waved Ruby over and motioned to her she needed to watch Regina for her. Emma stood up and walked over to Sidney and Romano from the production crew.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“They want to keep shooting,” Sidney explained.

“You’re shitting me,” Emma bristled. “Don’t you see Regina can’t do that?”

“You don’t understand,” Romano sighed. “This costs us money.”

“What about a human life?” Emma questioned hotly.

“I can do it,” Regina said behind them, she still sounded weak. “I just need a few.”

Emma turned around and knelt before her again. “No way, you need to rest.”

“I do not,” Regina interjected. “This has happened before. Once. Just give me a few to get my blood sugar up,” she said.

“You stubborn piece of…” Emma’s voice trailed off. “You don’t have to be a hero here.”

“I don’t aspire to be one, Miss Swan, I only want to win this thing,” Regina replied, her voice sounded stronger already.

Emma shook her head, she didn’t agree with this. She kept sitting in front of Regina until the brunette finished all of her juice and she looked more alive.

“How are you feeling?” Emma asked, touching Regina’s knee.

Regina smiled at her. “Better. Thank you.”

Emma softly smiled back. “Don’t mention it.”

“Are you okay to go on?” Romano asked, having had suddenly appeared next to them.

“I am,” Regina nodded and stood up.

“Good.”

They were directed back into the tent and they discovered their counters were cleaned and their progress had been taken away. On their counter were the ingredients standing hidden under the towel so Emma suspected they were starting again. Emma was right as when the filming started, Killian, Ariel, Astrid, and Robért came walking in again and Killian and Ariel again explained the challenge. Emma looked aside and saw Regina was looking better and more focused. Emma nodded, she was glad the brunette felt better. Regina looked up and shot her a sly smile, Emma smirked back. Quickly she looked away before she would do something stupid. That sly smile Regina sent her did things to her, things she couldn’t think about right now. Emma took a deep breath and was glad when she was allowed to start making her tart…

~~~

Regina had disappeared right after dinner, she needed to catch up on some sleep. She woke up two hours later, feeling wide awake. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and saw it was only nine. She sighed, she knew she wouldn’t be sleeping for the next couple of hours. As if her mind knew this, it drifted automatically to Emma. The blonde had saved her life today and the first thing Regina remembered after opening her eyes was Emma’s worried eyes staring at her. Feeling Emma’s arms around her made her feel so safe and Regina knew in that instance she was completely smitten with Emma Swan. Regina sat up and knew she needed to talk to Emma. She stood up and walked to the bathroom to jump in the shower. The warm water relaxed her tense muscles, but Regina couldn’t help but feel tense anyway. What if Emma didn’t feel like that? What if Emma wasn’t into women?  
Regina took a deep breath and stepped out of the shower. She got dressed in a pair of supple pants, a simple plain black t-shirt, and her sneakers. If she hadn’t been mayor, she would wear sneakers all the time. They were still stylishly black, so Regina was comfortable wearing them now and again. She walked to the fridge where she had stored some of the jam tarts she had nicked off the set. She knew they would be thrown out anyway, so she helped lessen the waste. Regina looked briefly in the mirror, took a deep breath, and walked out of her room. With the tarts in her hands, she knocked on Emma’s door and prayed the blonde was still awake. She heard something fall on the ground and Emma swearing softly. Regina chuckled, that definitely sounded like Emma. The door opened and Emma appeared in the doorway, looking puzzled.

“Regina?” she asked with a frown. “Are you okay?”

Regina smiled reassuringly. “I am. I brought thank you tarts,” she said as she showed the plate with the tarts.

Emma smirked and let her in. Regina walked into the room and saw it mirrored her own room. She sat the tarts down on the bed and sat down in the only chair in the room. Emma plopped down on the bed, facing Regina.

“So, whose are these?” Emma asked as she picked one up.

“They are mine,” Regina replied. “To thank you for saving my life.”

“It’s my job, you know,” Emma said as she took a bit and moaned. “These are so much better than mine!” she exclaimed.

“Nah, I can do better,” Regina waved away the compliment.

“Really?” Emma raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Remind me to ask you to make some when you are at the top of your game.”

Regina frowned. “What makes you think we’re gonna see each other after this?” she asked.

“I hope so,” Emma shrugged. “Or don’t you want to?” she asked, her brows knitted together in doubt.

Regina thought it looked adorable and she couldn’t suppress the smile. “I do,” she admitted.

“Good,” Emma breathed. “I was almost scared I was to forward.”

“You were not,” Regina assured her.

“So, was thanking me the only thing that made you decide to come over?” Emma asked, her eyes were searching Regina’s eyes.

Regina ducked her head, her heart was hammering in her chest. “To be honest, no,” she said.

“I’m listening,” Emma said and Regina heard her shuffling closer.

Regina took another deep breath. “I… I’ve been confused about my feelings for someone,” she confessed, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“For who?” Emma asked and Regina finally looked up, her eyes locking with Emma’s. “Me?” she whispered.

“No, Mulan,” Regina breathed out, not believing Emma hadn’t caught on.

“Wait, what?” Emma said confused.

“Yes, you, you idiot,” Regina blurted out, already feeling she was losing her cool.

“Seriously?” Emma replied, looking utterly confused.

Regina jumped up from the chair she was sitting in, she felt so ashamed. She had completely misjudged the situation and she had made an utter fool of herself. She dashed to the door, but before she even could pass the bed, a hand grabbed her wrist. Regina turned around and saw Emma kneeling on the bed.

“Emma?” Regina asked, breathing hard.

“I have feelings for you too,” Emma whispered.

Before Regina could protest, Emma had pressed her lips against Regina’s lips. An arm snaked around her waist, pulling her effectively closer. Regina melted into the embrace as she wrapped her arms around Emma’s shoulders. After minutes of kissing, they had to come up for air.

“I’ve never fallen in love with a woman,” Regina breathed.

“No worries, I won’t hold it against you,” Emma smirked and pulled her into another kiss.

Emma pulled Regina on top of her on the bed and Regina had never felt like this. It was like she was floating, the thing in her stomach was fluttering around wildly. Regina couldn't seem to get enough of Emma, until exhaustion won. She fell asleep safely curled up in Emma’s arms, her head on Emma’s chest…

~~~

The next morning, Emma woke up with a still sleeping Regina in her arms. She smiled down at the brunette, she had never thought she would end her evening with kissing Regina. Regina’s confession had taken her by surprise, but she was so glad she apparently wasn’t the only one with feelings for the other. She hadn’t told Lily this, but she had fallen for Regina the moment she had seen her. Regina had looked so regal, mysterious and beautiful, Emma had lost her heart right there and then. Last night they hadn’t done more than kissing and talking and, for the first time in her life, Emma felt satisfied.

“Good morning,” said a sleepy voice next to her.

“Good morning,” Emma smiled and she kissed Regina again.

Regina was the first one to break off the kiss and sat up. “I should go get a shower and get dressed,” she sighed. “If I stay here any longer, I’ll be kissing you all day,” she added with a smile.

Emma chuckled and nodded. “See you downstairs?” she asked.

“Of course,” Regina smiled. She dipped her head to Emma for one last kiss and left the room.

Emma fell back into the pillows, a stupid smile formed on her face. When she had only five minutes left to make it to breakfast, she got up from the bed and took a shower. After that, she got dressed, grabbed her stuff, and dashed downstairs to the restaurant. Emma didn’t sit with Regina on purpose, they didn’t want anyone to suspect anything. Emma didn’t really know if there were rules against fraternization, but neither of them wanted to risk it. Emma plopped down at Ruby’s table and wolfed down her breakfast.

“Had a late night?” Ruby asked, pointing at the bags under Emma’s eyes.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Emma murmured, it wasn’t really a lie. She’d just rather be kissing Regina than sleeping, but she couldn’t tell Ruby that. “Nervous for today, I suppose.”

Ruby nodded, she could understand that. They finished breakfast and made their way to the lobby to wait for Leroy to pick them up. Emma tried to act as normally as she could and resisted the urge to glance at Regina. Leroy finally showed up and they all got into the van. Emma hadn’t planned it, but she ended up next to Regina. Regina merely smiled briefly at her before sliding her headphones on. Emma started to worry that she might have dreamed that Regina had woken up next to her that morning when suddenly Regina’s fingers found Emma’s hand and intertwined their fingers. Emma smiled and looked out the window. Soon they arrived at the tent and they were rushed through makeup. Before Emma knew it, they were back in the tent and filming. Ariel, Killian, Astrid, and Robért walked into the tent.

“Welcome bakers to the showstopper challenge,” Killian beamed at them. “The judges want you to make a festive chocolate tart. You are allowed to come up with your own filling, as long as there is chocolate involved,” he continued. “You will have four hours.”

“On your marks, get ready…” Ariel called.

“Bake!” they both all but yelled.

Emma bit her lower lip; four hours was cutting it short. She swiftly started making the dough for the outside, that needed to bake the longest. Soon she could place it in the oven and she started making the filling. She was determined to make a dazzling tart to win star baker this week. She had been performing well this week and she didn’t want to break the streak. Time flew by and before Emma could comprehend how fast, Killian announced she had ten minutes left. Emma filled the tart with a creamy chocolate filling and glazed it over with dark chocolate icing. Satisfied, she left the tent after the filming stopped.

She stumbled to her backpack and plopped down on the grass. Her legs were feeling like they were falling off.

“I wanna kiss you,” someone suddenly whispered in her ear. “You looked so sexy in there.”

Emma smirked and looked up at Regina who had plopped next to her. “Well, you didn’t look so bad yourself either,” she smirked.

Regina smiled as she blushed. They needed to keep their hands to themselves but it was a struggle. Emma was glad they were called back into the tent to film the last bit. One by one they walked past the judge and Emma received high praises. Regina stuck up her thumb as she walked back and Emma beamed. Soon they were sitting on the stools in front of the tent, waiting to hear the results.

“This week, I’ll be announcing who won star baker,” Ariel started with a smile. “They were on a roll this week, winning the technical and getting high praises for their show stopper. This week’s star baker is… Emma!”

Emma smiled broadly and she was overjoyed. She hardly heard the announcement of who was leaving, Belle. As soon as they were allowed, Regina was already hanging around her neck, congratulating her. Emma smiled brightly, trying very hard not to kiss Regina right there. The others came over to congratulate her and Emma hugged Belle tightly, saying goodbye. Emma was going on to the next round, she would be standing here again next week. It would also mean she wouldn’t see Regina for the rest of the week and that made her smile falter a bit…


	6. Chapter 6

Regina sighed when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She had told her secretary she didn’t want to be disturbed during the town hall meeting and yet someone was texting her. Without taking her eyes off the woman who was talking, she pulled out her phone. Quickly she glanced at the screen and a smile spread on her face, it was Emma. Inconspicuously, Regina unlocked her phone and opened Emma’s message.

_**Emma:** Hi! I have to admit something._

Regina frowned, Emma hadn’t sent any messages after that. Quickly she replied and locked her phone again. She did keep the phone in her hand and as soon as it vibrated, she unlocked it again.

_**Emma:** I can’t stop thinking about you._

Regina’s smile widened as her heart made a jump in her chest. So she hadn’t dreamed it all, Emma actually was reciprocating her feelings.

_**Regina:** I can’t stop thinking about you either._

She looked up again, but her mind was far away. It was only yesterday when she last saw Emma and was already longing for the coming Friday. Regina didn’t know if it was healthy, but she didn’t really care. All she knew was that, for the first in maybe forever, she felt truly happy. She could still feel Emma’s arms around her when she woke yesterday morning and she had never felt so safe. Henry suspected something was up, he had looked at her with an inquisitive look on his face. Regina had ignored it, she wasn’t ready to tell him yet. Her phone vibrated again.

_**Emma:** Can’t wait to see you._

_**Regina:** Me neither. Are you on shift today?_

Regina looked back up, she saw the next speaker was standing in front of the crowd. She felt like a bad mayor, she hadn’t heard a word from the previous speaker. She took a deep breath, she really needed to focus. Then her phone vibrated and Regina could hardly hide the grin on her face. She looked at her screen and saw Emma already had replied.

_**Emma:** Yes, but it’s not busy today._

_**Regina:** Let’s hope it stays that way. Preparing for the coming weekend?_

_**Emma:** You know it! I’ve got a masterpiece planned._

Regina smirked, she could have guessed. It was Maids' of Honor week, which meant they were making wedding cakes. For the signature challenge, they were to make small aperitives and Regina already had an idea what to make. For the actual showstopper, she wanted to go classical. She suspected a few others would do that, but she planned to remake her parent’s wedding cake. Zelena would bring over a picture of it, Regina hadn’t been born yet when her parents had wed.

“Miss?”

Regina looked up and saw the meeting was over. Before her stood the woman who had typed up the entire meeting, ready to hand her a USB stick.

“Oh, thank you,” Regina smiled and accepted the USB stick.

“You looked a bit distracted, if I may be so bold,” the woman said, looking a bit concerned. “Are you alright?” she asked.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking,” Regina smiled at the woman. “Just a lot on my mind,” she explained.

“Of course,” the woman smiled and walked away.

Regina gathered her stuff and walked out of the meeting room. She stretched her neck, she was still sore from all the standing she did during the weekend. As she made her way to her office, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and pulled up her conversation with Emma.

_**Regina:** Of course you do._

Regina smiled, she couldn’t wait to see what Emma would cook up. She walked into her office and saw there was a huge pile of paperwork waiting for her. Regina grimaced and sat down.

She was halfway through the pile when there was a knock on the door and Janet appeared in the doorway.

“Your sister is here,” she said.

“Let her in,” Regina nodded.

Zelena stepped into her office and walked over to her sister.

“Hey,” she greeted Regina and gave her a hug. “Made it through another week?” she smiled.

“Yes,” Regina smiled and moved to the couch that stood in the corner of her office.

Zelena followed her and sat down. She rummaged through her back and pulled out an old picture.

“I had to dig through the trenches, but I found it,” she said. Regina chuckled, Zelena was always so dramatic. She studied the picture, it gave a clear view of the elaborate cake. “And I managed to get you this.”

Zelena handed her a folded up paper and when Regina opened it, she saw it was the recipe of the cake.

“That is amazing,” she beamed. “How did you get it?”

“A good journalist always hides her sources,” Zelena winked.

Zelena was a renowned journalist at the local paper and wrote for the New York Times every now and again. Regina folded the paper back up and placed it with the picture before she went over to hug Zelena.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“I obviously expect you to name me when you win,” Zelena winked.

“Of course,” Regina replied and sat down.

“So, did you manage to talk to your mysterious lover?” Zelena burst finally and Regina chuckled, this was most likely the biggest reason why Zelena had come over. She didn’t have to come over and hand over the picture.

“I did,” Regina smirked, thinking back about her ‘talk’ with Emma.

“And?” Zelena asked, she was almost jumping out of her skin. Zelena’s phone went off and she stood up. “Shit, I’ve got to go. Let’s talk more later, okay?” she said as she answered the phone. “Zelena Lockwood,” she said, her voice all business.

Regina nodded at her as Zelena waved at her and walked out of the office. Regina kept sitting on the couch, she had no idea how she would break the news to Zelena that she was falling for a woman. She didn’t think Zelena would mind, but it still was something that was making Regina apprehensive. To be honest, she still needed to get used to it herself, yet it felt so natural to picture her life with Emma. Yes, she knew she was getting ahead of herself, but it felt right. Her phone vibrated on her desk and she stood up to get it. She unlocked her phone and immediately stared at a picture of Emma and Cheese looking at the lowest level of a cake. Regina smiled and felt at ease again. Everything would turn out fine….

~~~

Emma stared at her phone, debating whether she made a mistake. Maybe she shouldn’t have sent the picture, but she doubted Regina would steal her idea, let alone what was the theme of the cake. Emma had only shown the bottom layer which had Gallifreyan writing on it and she doubted Regina knew it was from Doctor Who. As soon as they had announced the theme of the next weekend, she had known immediately what she was going to make. She had been dying to make this wedding cake from the first time she had seen it. Her phone rang with the message tone and Emma unlocked it.

_**Regina:** Gorgeous! And the cake looks pretty nice too ;) Cheese looks like he wants to eat it._

Emma shook her head and chuckled. Regina was flirting with her and Emma wasn’t complaining. She quickly replied. Her mind went back to the previous morning, when she had woken up with Regina in her arms. It had felt so natural, so normal, like Regina had been sleeping in her arms for years. Her phone dinged and Emma picked it up.

_**Emma:** Charmer ;) And Cheese wants to eat everything._

Emma smirked, waiting for a reply.

“Texting your secret lover?” Lily asked as she walked into the kitchen.

Emma laid down her phone and started working on her cake. “Of course,” she quipped with a wink.

Lily chuckled and shook her head. “You hooked up with someone,” she said, she knew Emma quite well.

“Maybe,” Emma grinned.

“Was it that Regina you keep talking about?” Lily guessed.

“I do not keep talking about her!” Emma objected.

“Really? We all know what Regina made for all of her challenges,” Lily smirked.

Emma sighed, resigned. She might have been slightly obsessed with Mayor Mills. “Yes, it was her,” she admitted.

“I knew it,” Lily beamed. “Was she good?”

“Like I’m telling you,” Emma retorted, her smirk was back.

“I thought you said she wasn’t gay?” Lily prodded as she leaned on the counter.

“She’s not out yet,” Emma told her friend. “To be honest, I’m the first one she’s fallen for.”

“So you’ve got a newbie on your hands,” Lily deducted. “Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

Emma sighed. “I don’t know, Lil,” she said. “All I know is that it felt good to be with her.”

Lily nodded and looked up at Emma. Emma felt Lily study her for a while and just when Emma was about to say something, Lily came over to her and hugged her. “I’m happy for you,” she said with a smile. “You look different when you talk about her.”

“I feel different,” Emma admitted. “And thank you,” she smiled and placed the second layer on the cake. “Did I miss anything exciting here over the weekend?” she asked.

“Well, actually, you did,” Lily started as she hopped on the counter.

Cheese came over and sat at her feet. Emma looked at it with a frown, Cheese was known to come over whenever he sensed someone was sad or in distress. Emma looked up at Lily and saw her face was scrunched up in a frown.

“What is it?” Emma asked softly, going over to her friend.

“Do you remember that woman that came by earlier this week without saying anything and left?” Lily asked, not looking up at Emma.

Emma had to dig deep, but then she remembered the mystery woman. “Yes.”

“Well, she came back,” Lily said. “And she asked for me.”

“Why?” Emma asked.

“She told me that she’s….” Lily took a deep breath as Cheese pushed his snout against her leg. “She’s my mother,” she whispered.

Emma’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, this was the last thing she expected. “No way,” she said. Lily nodded and finally looked up at Emma. Emma saw a mix of fear, happiness, and hesitation in her eyes and she wrapped her friend in a hug. “What happened?”

“We sat outside for a while and we talked,” Lily said. “She explained why she gave me up and that she had asked to be updated about how I was doing. A few weeks ago she saw me working at a building fire. She’s been coming by the house ever since,” Lily filled her in.

“Damn,” Emma breathed.

“You can say that again,” Lily said with a shaky smile.

“Are you going to see her again?” Emma asked.

“I am,” Lily nodded. “We’re going to meet for coffee after my shift.”

Emma smiled. “I’m happy for you, Lil,” she said genuinely.

“Thank you,” Lily breathed. “I knew you would understand.”

“Of course,” Emma winked. “I told you never to give up hoping.”

Lily chuckled and nodded. “I suppose.” She fell silent again and gave Emma a pondering look. “Can I introduce you to her? I told her a bit about you and that I consider you family.”

“Of course,” Emma smiled. “I’d be honored.”

“Great,” Lily beamed and jumped off the counter. “Who knows, maybe I get to be introduced to your new lover,” she winked.

“Don’t push it,” Emma smirked. “But when the time comes, you’ll be the first.”

“Deal,” Lily smiled and hugged her friend.

Emma was really happy for her and she didn’t even felt jealous. She had given up on knowing who her parents were a long time ago. It was as if she knew deep down that they weren’t alive anymore for some reason. It made her happy to see Lily reunited with her mother again…

~~~

The café was quiet as usual when Regina and Ruby entered it on Friday afternoon. They were always the first to arrive and normally Regina wouldn’t mind, but now she couldn’t wait for the rest to join them. She sat down with Ruby at their usual table and couldn’t stop looking outside.

“Are you expecting someone?” Ruby asked, eyeing Regina’s fingers that were tapping on the table.

Regina looked up startled. “No. Just waiting for the rest,” she answered.

“That can take another couple of hours,” Ruby replied.

Regina twitched the corner of her mouth up and sighed. Emma had gone offline an hour ago and Regina hadn’t been able to talk to her since this morning. She didn’t like it, she wanted to be in contact with Emma. She wondered briefly if that sounded greedy, but she shook it off.

She decided to distract herself and asked Ruby about her week. They hardly saw each other, they never really had been friends in the first place. Regina of course knew Ruby, as she was the granddaughter of Eugenia Lucas who ran Granny’s. Regina had developed an odd kind of relationship with Eugenia, bonding over baking. Eugenia had never managed to get Ruby into the family business, Ruby had chosen a job as a firefighter. Eugenia once had confided in Regina that it scared her, knowing that Ruby was out there risking her life. Regina had never really understood that feeling, but now that she knew Emma, she understood.

“How was your week?” Ruby asked and Regina looked up from her tea.

“Boring, to be honest. A lot of meetings and a lot of paperwork,” Regina replied with a sigh.

Ruby frowned. “Do you like being a mayor?” she asked apprehensively.

“I do. It has its downsides, but definitely its upsides. I like connecting people, I like caring for the town,” she tried to explain.

Ruby nodded. “I get that,” she said. The door opened and Tink and Peter entered, bickering. Ruby chuckled. “If I didn’t know any better, I would see them as a married couple.”

Regina chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

“Hey!” Tink came over to their table and plopped down next to Regina while Peter sat down next to Ruby.

“Hey,” Regina smiled. “Had a good flight?” she asked.

“Yeah, you?” Tink asked as she undid her scarf.

“Yeah, no troubles at all,” Regina replied. “You two have the same flight?” she asked.

“Yes, we do,” Peter answered. “We both take the plane from New York.”

“I see,” Regina nodded.

“You guys need to help settle an argument,” Tink started and Peter groaned. “As you know, I have a vlog. If not, under what rock have you been sleeping?” Regina almost choked on her tea as she chortled. Tink had been harassing them with her vlog, so everyone knows about it. “And Peter here has a blog about baking,”

“I’m sure you know that one,” Peter winked.

Regina tried her hardest not to laugh, Peter had been harassing them as well with his blog. It was kind of funny, seeing them compete to get more views or likes. Regina had looked them both up, but she hadn’t been following them.

“Aaaanyway, Peter and I got into an argument on the plane about who has the best online presence. I think I have it since I went along with the times whereas Peter here still lives in the stone age,” Tink explained, Peter grimaced at her.

“Are you guys serious?” Ruby chuckled. “I don’t know, it depends on taste really.”

“Yeah, but come on, having a blog is sooo 2018,” Tink complained.

“She just can’t handle it that I have more visitors on my site then she has on her ‘vlogs’,” Peter grinned.

Tink growled low and it looked like she was about to attack him when the door opened again and Emma stepped into the café. It took everything for Regina not to jump up and run into Emma’s arms. She did perk up and smiled at her.

“Hey,” she said and motioned for Emma to sit down next to her.

“Hey,” Emma replied softly and Regina frowned, she sounded tired.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly, Ruby and Peter were having an animated conversation.

Emma looked up and Regina startled at the dull eyes. Emma tried to put on her brave face but failed miserably. “Just had a rough shift is all,” Emma explained. “I’m gonna get a coffee.”

She stood up and Regina had to physically sit on her hands so she wouldn’t go after Emma. She tried to focus on Ruby and Peter’s conversation, but all she could think of was that she wanted to be alone with Emma and take care of her. Regina looked up when Emma and Tink came walking back and Regina breathed in relief when Emma sat next to her again. As Emma joined in the conversation, Regina felt Emma’s fingers bump her hand and Regina intertwined their fingers. She could almost visibly see Emma relax at her touch and for now, that was good enough for Regina…

~~~

Emma was still half asleep when she and the rest were waiting on the set to begin the filming. She had crashed at Regina’s room last night, she had wanted to tell Regina all about her shift. But once her head had touched the pillow, she had been asleep. Regina had barely been able to wake her up and they had made it just in time for breakfast. There hadn’t been much room to talk as they were all rushed to the tent. They hadn’t dared to talk in the car, they hadn’t even sat next to each other. Emma had felt the emptiness next to her and she could see Regina was feeling the same.

“Maybe this will help.”

Emma looked up and found Regina standing in front of her with a cup of coffee. Emma’s face broke in a smile and accepted the hot steaming cup.

“Thank you, you’re a lifesaver,” Emma smiled.

“Last time I checked that was your job,” Regina winked.

Emma yawned. “Not today,” she said. “Way too tired.”

“Did you get any sleep last night?” Regina asked concerned, she had been out like a light herself.

“Like a brick,” Emma replied and shook her head. “I have this sometimes when a shift’s been too intense.”

“I’m sorry,” Regina offered.

“Hazard of the job, I suppose,” Emma smiled.

Regina lingered around Emma as the blonde enjoyed the coffee. It wasn’t the best she had ever had, but it did its job. By the time they were called into the tent to start the first challenge, Emma felt more awake. The cameras started rolling and Killian, Ariel, Astrid, and Robért came walking into the tent.

“Bakers, welcome back to another challenge. We are in week four and the challenges are going to get tougher. For this week we have a fun one,” Killian started. “It’s maids of honor, meaning we’re going to dive headlong into weddings,” he beamed.

“For the first challenge, the signature, the judges want you to make 14 equal aperitives you can serve before a wedding. You can choose the style yourself, but they have to be bite-sized,” Ariel told them. “You have 45 minutes for this challenge.”

Emma set to work to make the dough for the little bite-sized aperitives she had in mind. She had never done a wedding, but the internet had been very helpful. She planned to make two different types, making 7 of each type. She had one shrimp flavored with a creamy filling and a chocolate one with strawberries on top. Her family at the firehouse had loved them and she was sure they would be a success here. She looked to the side and saw Regina had almost the same idea, but still different. Emma smirked, it would be interesting to see their different styles collide once they were together for real and maybe even living together. Emma shook her head, she was going way too fast. They weren’t even together officially and here she was daydreaming about living together.

“Five more minutes!” Killian called.

Emma startled, she was behind. Quickly she started filling her aperitives and decorate them. Regina saw she was in trouble and rushed over.

“What do you need?” she asked.

“The strawberries need to go on the chocolate,” Emma explained hastily as she continued decorating the shrimp ones with icing.

Regina nodded and set to work. They were done just in time and Regina rushed back to her own counter. Emma smiled at her thankful and Regina winked at her. Emma sighed a breath of relief when the filming paused and walked out of the tent.

“That was close,” Regina smiled at her.

“Yes,” Emma breathed. “You keep saving me today.”

Regina shrugged and looked aside at Emma. “Sometimes you need saving too,” she said.

Emma nodded and wished she could curl up against Regina. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by people and Emma didn’t think it would be a good idea. She settled instead for holding Regina’s hand and she felt herself relax with the touch. Regina looked at her with this soft look and Emma had to look away.

“Stop it,” Emma whispered.

“Or else what?” Regina teased.

Emma looked up. “I’m gonna kiss you so hard, we’ll both get kicked out.”

Regina ducked her head, Emma spotted the half-grin on Regina’s face. Emma bit her lip, restraining herself from dragging Regina behind one of the trailers and kiss her anyway.

“I can’t wait for tonight,” Regina breathed, still not looking up.

“Me neither,” Emma agreed. “Want some coffee?” she asked.

“Yes, please,” Regina smiled.

Emma let go of Regina and walked to the coffee trailer. She got an espresso for herself and a latte macchiato for Regina. As she walked back, she looked in between the trailers and her mouth fell open at what she saw. Against the trailer in the far back, she saw two people standing very close to each other. She couldn’t see what they were doing or who it was. Curiosity got the best of her and she sneaked closer. As she got closer, she saw it was Tink and Peter, kissing. Emma’s eyes went big and she quickly sneaked back. She walked back to Regina and handed her the latte macchiato, still stunned about what she saw.

“You’re never gonna believe who I just saw making out,” she whispered.

“Who?” Regina asked curiously.

“Tink and Peter,” Emma replied, making sure no one would hear them.

“No way!” Regina chuckled. “I knew it, those two were bickering like an old couple.”

“I know right,” Emma grinned.

Nova came to get them and they walked back into the tent. Regina let go of Emma’s hand at the last possible moment and Emma could still feel her touch ghosting over her skin as she stood behind her counter. The cameras started rolling again and Emma pulled a straight face. Astrid and Robért walked past every counter, trailed by Killian and Ariel. They praised both Emma and Regina, but it was Ruby who won the challenge. Emma thought she had earned it, her aperitives looked delicious. Filming stopped and they walked out of the tent. Crewmembers cleared the tent for the next challenge and Emma plopped down on the grass, away from the rest. Regina followed her of course and sat down next to her.

“Are you okay?” Regina asked softly and Emma nodded.

“I am now that I’m with you,” she smiled and looked at the gorgeous brunette next to her.

Their shoulders were barely touching and Emma took a deep breath. She longed for the feeling of having Regina’s arms around her, they made her feel so safe.

“I feel the same,” Regina said softly.

Emma smiled and they sat in silence next to each other until it was time to go back to the tent. The technical challenge was waiting for them. Emma didn’t have a really hard time with it, she knew the recipe immediately. They were asked to make churros and cut them into bite-sized dishes. Emma won this challenge and Regina stuck up her thumbs. Tired, but satisfied, the group went back to the hotel.

~~~

It was 9:30 and Regina was standing in front of Emma’s hotel room feeling like a schoolgirl. Her stomach was in knots and she couldn’t wait to be with Emma again. She knocked on the door and it whooshed open in a matter of seconds. Emma stood waiting for her on the other side of the door with a shit-eating grin on her face. Regina matched her grin, glad to know she wasn’t the only one who had been this excited.

“Finally,” Emma growled and pulled Regina into her room.

The door closed behind them and Emma pinned Regina against it, kissing her deeply. Regina kissed her back with a hunger she didn’t recognize. She had never been like this when she was with Henry’s father. She had loved him, but it had never felt like this. Her body filled with warmth, feeling feather-light. Regina could drown in what was Emma and she wouldn’t mind it for one second. Finally, it was Emma who broke the kiss. They both gasped for air and Regina reached up with her hand to cup Emma’s face.

“I missed you so much,” she breathed.

“I missed you too,” Emma replied and kissed her again.

When Emma broke the kiss, Regina held her chin and kissed her again. “I can’t get enough of you,” she whispered.

Emma only smiled and lead her to the bed. She sat down on it and Regina straddled her. Emma looked up at her and Regina thought she had never seen something so beautiful. Regina traced Emma’s face with her fingers, brushing over her cheek, touching her lips. She bit her own lip and kissed Emma again before stopping. Emma looked up at her with a questioning look.

“I’m not ready to go all the way yet,” Regina said in a husky voice.

“That is okay,” Emma assured her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Thank you,” Regina whispered and kissed her again. “This is so new to me,” Regina felt the need to explain, but Emma placed a finger on her lips.

“I get it,” she said. “There is no rush.”

“Okay,” Regina sighed and rolled onto the bed.

Emma laid next to her on her stomach and looked at the woman who was stretched out next to her. “You’re beautiful,” she said.

Regina smiled and kissed Emma. “Thank you. So are you, gorgeous,” she said. “So, want to talk about your shift?” she asked.

Emma sighed and rubbed her face. “Yeah,” she said. “We had to go to a car crash incident, it involved a family and the car had been smashed up really bad. We managed to get the woman out and the two kids, but we couldn’t save the dad. The car blew up before we could get him out,” Emma told her. “Right in front of them,” her voice broke at that.

Regina pulled her in her arms and let Emma cry softly. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. Emma just buried her head deeper in Regina’s shoulder and Regina held her close. After a while, Emma stopped crying and her breathing evened out. Regina looked at her with a smile, the blonde had fallen asleep. Regina pulled the covers over them and settled herself in the pillow, falling asleep soon after.

~~~

Emma was glad she told Regina about her shift, it helped her sleep better. When Regina had entered her room, she had to admit she had wanted to devour the woman, but she understood why Regina wouldn’t want to go there. The brunette was still wrapping her head around the whole falling for a woman thing. Emma could still hear Lily asking if she was ready to date a newbie lesbian, but Emma still stood behind what she said. She wanted to be with Regina, no matter how long it took her to take the next step. Emma would be there, waiting.

Soon there was no more time to think about it, the filming started and after the little introduction talk of Killian and Ariel, they could start with their showstopper. Emma started to make the batter for the first layer and soon the only thing on her mind was her cake. They had gotten five hours for their showstopper and Emma needed all the time she could get. She finished with five minutes to spare and saw Regina was struggling to get done on time with her showstopper. When Emma saw it in its full glory, she was impressed. She rushed over to Regina, who was sweating.

“What can I do?” she asked.

“Add the green blades,” Regina huffed.

Emma nodded and set to work. They finished just in time and Regina couldn’t help it but pull Emma into a hug.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Thank me later,” Emma winked and she went back to her own counter.

The filming stopped and they left the tent. Emma plopped down as soon as she could, her feet were almost falling off. Regina plopped down next to her and handed her a bottle of water.

“I’m never doing this again,” Regina complained.

Emma smirked. “We say that every week.”

Regina looked at her and started to laugh. Emma joined in and soon they were having a laughing fit. They had managed to calm down just in time for them to return to the tent. Filming got picked up again and Emma could clearly see now who had made what. Regina had gone classical, just like Aurora and Neal. Mulan had made a Harry Potter cake which looked magical. Tink had made a Peter Pan cake, including captain Hook’s ship. Emma chuckled at that one. Peter had made a Spiderman cake and Ruby went all out with a cake inspired by wolves. The judges were very impressed and their decision took ages. Emma started to get restless while waiting for the results but calmed down as soon as Regina came to stand next to her. Finally, Killian, Astrid, Robért, and Ariel came back and they were called forward.

“It was a hard decision this week, but the judges have made their decision,” Killian started. “Today’s winner impressed the judges with their signature challenge and their amazing showstopper. This week’s star baker is… Ruby!”

Applause went up and Emma agreed, she deserved it.

“That means I get to announce to whom we will say goodbye,” Ariel said as she stepped forward. “The person who won’t come back is…. Peter.”

Peter nodded, he had seen it coming. Emma looked up at Regina, they had survived another week together. Emma smiled brightly, squeezing Regina’s hand before going over to Ruby to congratulate her…


	7. Chapter 7

Emma’s shift started chaotically. She had barely changed into her work uniform when the bell rang. Emma dropped what she was doing and sprinted to the firetruck. She pulled on the protective pants and jumped into the truck. August was at the wheel and Jake was sitting front seat, being the captain. Emma pulled on her coat as she heard the other truck follow them, Ladder 55. She frowned, it promised to be a big one then.

“There’s been a traffic accident,” Jake told them as he turned in his seat. “Police are already at the scene and they report that it’s a big one. Some vehicles are on fire and people are trapped in their cars.”

“Do we know what happened?” Emma asked.

Jake nodded, his face saddened. “A school bus got hit when a truck ran a red light.”

Emma swore under her breath, she hated accidents that involved kids. She looked out of the window and saw they were racing through the city at high speed. The firetruck hit the brake and Emma knew it was all hands on deck. She jumped out of the truck and startled at the sight before her. A yellow school bus lay on its side on the road, a truck was parked against a building on the other side of the road. The truck had hit a couple of other cars on its way to the building, which were scattered over the road. A couple of them were on fire.

“Swan! Take Booth with you and check on the passengers!” Jake called and Emma motioned for August to follow her as Jake yelled commands at the rest.

August was looking at the crash site with horror, it was one of his first big accidents. When Emma pulled him with her, he seemed to wake up. He followed her to the first car they saw, but this one was empty. Emma dashed to the next and here they found a woman trapped in the driver’s seat. Emma tried to yank open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Dammit,” she swore.

The woman looked at her panicked and pointed at her legs. Emma saw her legs were trapped underneath the steering column. She looked up and saw August had managed to open the door on the other side. Emma walked around the car and peered inside.

“Pulse is irregular,” August reported and looked back at Emma. “She needs to get out of here ASAP.”

Emma nodded and looked around her. She spotted Lily over at another car. “Lily, I need you!” she yelled.

“Coming!” Lily called back.

Emma looked back at the truck and spotted Jake. “Jake, we need the cutters!” Emma called over.

Jake nodded and soon Ray came running over with the cutters, William joining them as well. Emma handed August a blanket to spread over the woman and Ray and William started cutting the roof open. They cut the two points at the rear window and folded the roof back. Emma could finally open the door and was glad to see there was a bit of wiggle room.

“Out of my way!” someone called behind her and Emma stepped back.

It was Lily, who assessed the situation in the blink of an eye. She asked the woman a few questions and strapped a brace around the woman’s neck. Emma came standing next to her.

“If we lower the back of the chair we can slide her out,” she said to Lily.

Lily nodded. “Okay. Do it fast, she’s losing blood,” Lily replied.

Emma and August set to work, lowering the back of the chair. Emma was right, it created enough room for the woman to get her legs free. Lily handed Emma the backboard and together they managed to get the woman on the board. Emma strapped the woman to the backboard and lifted her with August's help onto the stretcher. Lily and Kim-Joy wheeled her to the ambulance.

“Swan, get your ass here!” Jake called and Emma dashed towards him.

They spent a good couple of hours getting people out. Clearing the school bus was a particular challenge, but much to Emma’s relief no one died. Exhausted, they returned to the firehouse. As soon as Emma was able to, she jumped under the shower and washed away the sweat. When she was done, she walked to her locker only wearing a towel. She opened her locker and grabbed her phone. She saw she missed a few messages and she opened them. They were all from Regina.

_**Regina:** Hi, good morning. I’m not sure if you have a shift or not. I just hope I didn’t wake you._

_**Regina:** Just wanted to say thank you for last weekend. And next weekend you’re mine ;)_

Emma smiled at that and scrolled further down.

_**Regina:** Anyway, just wanted to tell you that. Can’t wait to see you, I miss you already._

Emma’s inside turned warm at those words. She missed Regina from the moment they said goodbye at the airport. Her finger hovered over the reply button, but she decided something else. She pressed the call button and put the phone against her ear. Her heart was hammering in her chest, hoping Regina would answer and that she wouldn’t interrupt anything.

_“Regina Mills.”_

Emma’s heart made a jump at hearing Regina’s voice. She needed a moment to gather her thoughts and her voice.

“Hey, it’s me,” she finally said.

 _“Emma!”_ Surprise sounded through Regina’s voice and Emma heard something rustling in the background.

“Sorry, did I interrupt you?” she asked, already feeling guilty.

 _“No, not at all!”_ Regina replied and relief washed over Emma. _“I’m actually glad you called. I needed a break. How are you?”_

Emma sighed. “Could be better. Just had a traffic accident that involved a school bus full of kids,” Emma told her.

 _“Oh no! Did everyone get out?”_ she asked.

“Yeah,” Emma said. “I hate these kinds of call-outs. That’s why I called you. I miss you too.”

 _“You are always welcome to call,”_ Regina replied and she sighed. _“I wish I could be with you now.”_

“Me too,” Emma replied. “Did you start planning your cakes yet?” she asked.

 _“No, not yet. Hope to do that after work today. You?”_ Regina replied.

“Nope. Hope I can do it later today, but that depends on how the day goes here,” Emma sighed.

 _“You got this,”_ Regina offered. _“And you can call me any time you need me.”_

Emma smiled, it felt really good to hear Regina’s voice. “Thank you.”

 _“You are welcome, my dear,”_ Regina replied.

“I’ve got to go now. I’ll call you later,” Emma said as she shivered, she needed to get dressed.

 _“Alright. Be safe,”_ Regina said.

“I’ll try,” Emma smiled. “I talk to you soon.”

 _“Okay… Bye,”_ Regina replied.

“…Bye.”

Emma hung up and got dressed. She had almost said the L-word, but it didn’t feel right to say it over the phone for the first time. Feeling tons lighter, she climbed up the stairs and made her way to the kitchen.

~~~

Regina was buried so deep in her research for caramel cakes and recipes, she hadn’t heard the back door open. It was only when she heard footsteps and a high, girly voice, she realized she wasn’t alone.

“Auntie Gina!”

Regina looked up and smiled when she saw her five-year-old niece, Robin, walking towards her.

“Hello, Robin,” Regina said as she knelt down to give her niece a hug. “Did you come here all on your own?” she asked.

Robin shook her head and pointed behind her, where Zelena appeared. “Hi, sis,” Zelena smiled.

“Hey.”

Regina stood up and gave her sister a hug. She glanced back at Robin, who was looking up at the two adults.

“I think Henry deserves a little break from his studies,” Regina winked at her.

Robin giggled and walked out of the kitchen towards the stairs. Robin was here often, it felt like a second home. Regina loved having her over, she loved little kids. She sat back at the counter and glanced at the screen of her laptop with a sigh.

“Difficult challenge?” Zelena asked.

Regina shrugged. “Caramel,” she filled Zelena in.

“Ah. Well, let’s hope it won’t be hot this weekend then,” Zelena chuckled.

“Geez, thanks,” Regina replied and closed the laptop. “How are you?” she asked.

“Good,” Zelena replied. “Busy as always,” she winked. “How was the weekend?” she asked.

Regina knew Zelena was trying to get the gossip, but Regina wasn’t falling for it. She wanted to keep Emma for herself just a bit longer and she wasn’t sure if Emma would be okay with it.

“Good,” Regina replied neutrally. “Long hours.”

“And did you talk to your mysterious lover?” Zelena prodded, done with being cautious.

Regina chuckled and shook her head. “Maybe,” she replied.

“Gina!” Zelena moaned. “Come on, you can tell me,” she tried.

“Sure, and then everyone knows about it by next Monday,” Regina smirked, she knew her sister was a bit of a blabbermouth. “Quite an example you set there as a journalist,” she teased some more.

Zelena stuck out her tongue. “Fine, be like that.”

Regina chuckled and opened the laptop again. “But yes, we… talked,” Regina finally said, after she deemed Zelena had sulked long enough.

“I knew it,” Zelena beamed. “You look different.”

“Thanks,” Regina replied.

“No, seriously. You look different, more radiant,” Zelena said more seriously. “I don’t like it that you won’t tell me who it is but I get it. This is new.”

Regina looked up surprised, she hadn’t expected to get this back from Zelena. “It is,” she nodded. “I’ve never felt like this. Whenever we’re together, I feel so light and safe.”

Zelena smiled softly. “That’s called love.”

Regina looked away and bit her lip when she recalled the phone call with Emma earlier that day. When they had hung up, she had almost told Emma she loved her, but it hadn’t felt right to say it for the first time over the phone. She wanted to look Emma in the eye when she said it for the first time.

“Then I don’t think I ever really loved Henry’s father,” Regina said as she looked back at Zelena.

Zelena snorted. “No, but that was pretty clear. He didn’t love you either.”

Regina shook her head, she had already figured that. “I will tell you, Zee. Just not now,” she said earnestly.

“I know, sis,” Zelena smiled softly. “Take your time.”

“Thank you.” Regina went over to hug her sister. “Do you and Robin want to stay over for dinner?” she asked then.

Zelena shook her head. “Robin will be home tonight, I want to spend time with him.”

Regina sometimes still had to get used to the idea that Zelena had named her daughter after her husband Robin, it did complicated things sometimes.

“I get that,” Regina smiled. “Tell him I said hi.”

“I will,” Zelena replied and glanced at her watch. “I’m going to get my little dragon.”

“Good luck,” Regina chuckled.

Zelena grimaced and walked out of the kitchen. Regina watched her go with a smile and knew she needed to tell Zelena. She just wasn’t ready yet.

She wasn’t ready to announce that she had fallen deeply for a woman, it was something she herself needed to get used to. She had never seen herself as gay and she wasn’t sure where she fell on the spectrum. Last night she had done a bit of research for it and she figured that she at least was something that was called bisexual. But she also could find herself in the term pansexual, where you don’t fall for a gender but for a person. Regina liked that thought, she didn’t care whether Emma was male or female. Emma was Emma and she fell for her character.

“Mom?” Regina startled out of her thoughts and found Henry standing next to her, looking at her with a frown. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, sorry,” Regina smiled at him. “What’s up?” she asked.

“What’s for dinner?” he asked, still looking at her a bit concerned.

Regina glanced at the clock on the wall and realized it was too late to start dinner now. She looked back at her son with a guilty look on her face. “I’m sorry, I completely forgot the time. How about we order Chinese?” she suggested.

Henry smirked and nodded. “I’ll get the menus.”

Regina smiled at the enthusiasm Henry was showing as he dashed away to get the menus. She closed the laptop and followed him. If she was going to tell people about Emma, Henry would be the first. She wasn’t sure how he would react, but she knew she had raised a decent human being.

“I’ve found them. Same as always for you?” he asked, he already had the phone in his hands.

“Yes, please,” she smiled at him.

Henry ordered their usual order and Regina went over to the tv. It was a custom between them that whenever they ordered in, they would watch an old classic. They had started watching The Godfather and Henry absolutely loved it.

“Already have an idea what you want to do for the next challenge?” Henry asked as they waited for their food to arrive.

“Not quite,” Regina admitted. “I don’t work often with caramel.”

Henry nodded. “It's a difficult material,” he agreed. “Can’t wait to see the show, by the way,” he beamed.

Regina chuckled. “Me neither.”

“We are so going to order in and watch it,” he suggested.

“We’ll see about that, mister,” Regina winked.

The doorbell rang and soon they were curled up on the couch eating their dinner while watching the second part of The Godfather. Regina checked her messages while watching the movie and saw Emma had texted she was finally on the way home and that her shift had been crazy busy. Regina quickly replied, saying that she hoped Emma was safe. Emma replied that she was and that she was going to sleep like the dead. Regina smiled at that and wished her good night. As Regina laid down her phone, she couldn’t help but miss Emma...

~~~

Emma rushed through the airport, she was running late. Her plane had been delayed due to bad weather and she was cutting it close to the pickup moment. She rushed through the exit and saw Leroy was already standing there with the van.

“There you are!”

Regina looked up relieved and Emma walked over.

“My plane was delayed due to bad weather,” Emma explained as she dumped her bag in the back of the van.

“I’m glad you made it,” Regina smiled and after she checked if there was no one around to see them, she hugged Emma quickly. “I missed you,” she whispered.

“I missed you too,” Emma replied and wrapped her arms around Regina’s waist to pull her closer.

She took in Regina’s smell and felt herself relax. She had missed Regina so much this week, it was starting to get ridiculous. She broke the embrace when she heard footsteps behind them and Mulan appeared behind them.

“Hey,” she greeted them and eyed them suspiciously as she dumped her bag in the back as well.

“Hey,” Emma replied. “Have a good flight?” she asked as she walked with Mulan to the side of the van to get in.

“Yeah, no problems,” Mulan said. “You?”

Emma plopped down in a seat next to the window, Regina sat in the seat behind them as Mulan plopped down next to Emma. Emma felt a pang of annoyance, she would have liked to sit next to the woman she had missed so much. It was not like they could talk or anything, but she would have liked the proximity of Regina.

“Delayed due to bad weather,” Emma sighed, remembering the turbulence they had during take-off.

“Glad you made it just in time then,” Mulan smiled.

Emma nodded, she did like Mulan. They talked about their week and the coming challenge as they drove to their hotel. Emma discovered Mulan worked as a martial arts teacher and Emma could totally see that. They discovered they didn’t live that far away from each other and Mulan offered Emma a free lesson. Emma gladly accepted it, she always had wanted to learn martial arts. It was also a very good way to stay fit and it was a nice change from the gym. Soon, they arrived at the hotel and they got out. Emma said good night to Mulan and grabbed her bag from the van. She winked at Regina, knowing she would see her soon after. She walked into the lobby and just as she was about to take the stairs, Aurora pulled her aside.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Aurora asked urgently.

“Uh, sure,” Emma replied and followed Aurora into the deserted restaurant. “What’s up?” she asked as she dropped her backpack to her feet.

“I don’t want to intrude, but I do want to warn you,” Aurora warned and Emma’s heart skipped a beat. Had Aurora seen her and Regina hug? “I’m not sure if you are aware, but there are rules against fraternization,” she said. “You and Regina need to be careful,” she added.

“Shit,” Emma muttered. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Aurora smiled. “You two are cute though,” she winked. “And believe me, I’m not against it. But it would be crappy if you or Regina got kicked off the show for that. It’s why Peter is gone,” she said.

“I see. Thank you,” Emma sighed.

Aurora nodded, grabbed her duffel bag, and walked off. Emma grabbed her backpack and swung it over one shoulder. Aurora was right, they needed to be more careful. No more secret hugs or sneaking around. Emma walked up the stairs and stopped before Regina’s room. She glanced around her before she knocked. The door flew open and hastily, Emma stepped inside. The door was barely closed when Regina kissed her and for a moment, Emma drowned in it.

“What took you so long?” Regina asked when she broke the kiss.

“Aurora pulled me aside,” Emma explained as she sunk on the bed. “She saw us hugging and she warned me. Apparently, Peter was sent home because he was caught with Tink,” she explained.

“Shit,” Regina swore, she had sat down next to Emma. “That is not good.”

Emma shook her head. “We need to be even more careful.”

Regina groaned. “I know, but… I haven’t seen you all week and I just want to be near you.”

Emma turned to face her, one knee up the bed. She took Regina’s hand in hers, intertwining their fingers.

“Me too,” Emma replied. “But we also want to win this thing.”

Regina looked up and nodded. “Then we do need to be more careful. Maybe we shouldn’t hang out in between takes.”

Emma swallowed, every instinct in her was screaming against that. She treasured those little moments where they were sitting in the grass and just talking. “Indeed,” she said. “And just enjoy these nights together.”

Regina nodded and leaned her forehead against Emma’s. “Just for the time being.”

“Just for now,” Emma agreed and kissed her.

~~~

The next morning Regina and Emma went down separately and Regina once again chose the table in the far back of the restaurant. She watched as Emma sat down with Ruby and Mulan and sighed. She longed to be near Emma, but they didn’t want to be caught. She looked up when Aurora stood in front of her table.

“Can I join you?” Aurora asked softly.

“Of course,” Regina smiled and closed her sketchbook.

“Thanks,” Aurora smiled and sat down. “How are you?” she asked.

“Good,” Regina nodded. “It’s early,” she added with a yawn.

Aurora chuckled and nodded. “That it is,” she agreed. They ate in silence until Aurora broke the silence. “I take it Emma has talked to you?” she asked quietly.

Regina took a deep breath, as her eyes traveled to her love sitting at the other table. “She has,” Regina nodded.

“I’m sorry,” Aurora offered.

“Don’t be,” Regina said as she looked at Aurora. “I’m grateful you warned us.”

Aurora smiled at her. “Good. I don’t want to ruin anything between the two of you. I would just hate it if any of you would be sent away because of that. Both of you have a real chance of winning this,” she rambled nervously.

Regina smiled warmly at her. “Thank you, really. You are not doing bad yourself either.”

“Thanks,” Aurora smiled.

Regina glanced at her watch and saw it was time to go. “We got to go,” she warned Aurora. “Leroy will be here any minute.”

They brought their dirty plates away and made their way to the lobby. Leroy hadn’t arrived yet and Regina and Aurora talked some more about their week and Regina learned Aurora was a teacher at a high school in New York. Regina could totally picture Aurora in front of a class and the more they talked, the more Aurora came loose. Regina liked her, she was really sweet. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Emma enter the lobby as well and, for a brief moment, their eyes crossed. Emma sent her a sad smile and Regina tried to give her a reassuring smile but felt she failed. Leroy showed up and they all stepped into the van. The trip to the filming location was short and soon Regina found herself in the makeup trailer. As she left the trailer, Emma was waiting outside. Regina had to restrain herself not to give Emma a hug. Instead, she smiled at Emma, earning her a playful wink. Regina walked past her to get some coffee. It was crazy, they had spent the whole night curled up with each other, and yet Regina was craving more physical contact. When everyone was done at the makeup trailer, Nova escorted them to the big tent. Regina stood behind her counter, waiting for the filming to start. Sydney soon gave the thumbs up and Killian, Ariel, Robért, and Astrid entered the tent.

“Welcome back in the tent, bakers,” Ariel started cheerfully. “This week is caramel week and it’s going to be a difficult challenge. The weather is getting warmer, so that will be an extra factor this week.”

Regina had noticed that when she had arrived here. It was much warmer than in Camden and she swore softly. Caramel and warmth rarely went hand in hand.

“For this week’s signature challenge, Robért wants you to make twelve equal millionaire shortbreads,” Ariel continued. “You will have an hour for this challenge.”

“And I want to see three distinctive layers,” Robért added. “And of course lots of caramel.”

“On your marks,” Killian started.

“Get ready,” Ariel smiled.

“BAKE!” Both of them called out.

Regina set to work immediately, she was glad she had practiced the shortbreads this week. She hadn’t made them before and even though they weren’t very difficult to make, you needed to know the tricks. She started to make the caramel, it needed to be fluid, while she also started working on the dough for the shortbreads. She decided to go for the classic shortbread with dark chocolate and caramel. She glanced aside and saw Emma was making something very pink and she chuckled, of course Emma would go off the books with this. It had annoyed her at first, but now she found it endearing. When Regina looked up, she found a camera pointing in her face and Robért and Astrid standing in front of her counter.

“Hello,” Astrid greeted her. “What’s your take here?” she asked, looking at what Regina was doing.

“I’m going for the classical,” Regina told them. “Dark chocolate, caramel, and cake,” she explained. “And I’m sprinkling sea salt on top of it,” she added.

“That sounds good,” Astrid smiled.

“How are you going to create the three layers?” Robért asked.

“Well, you will be able to see it clearly due to the different colors,” Regina explained.

Robért nodded, he was impressed. “Good luck.”

“Thank you,” Regina smiled.

They left and Regina let out a sigh in relief. She looked up and saw Emma was looking at her. She pulled a grimace while motioning to the camera, Emma chuckled. Regina continued working on her shortbreads and was very happy with the end result. The filming stopped and as Regina walked past Emma’s shortbreads, she was definitely impressed. Emma had gone for a strawberry paste as a topping, caramel in the middle, and a vanilla-flavored cake. Regina watched as Emma sat with Ruby and Mulan and Regina ended up talking with Neal. She hadn’t really spent time with him, but he was a really kind guy. He worked as a mechanic at an auto shop and he told Regina he hoped to open his own shop in the future. Baking was a side hobby of his and his kids loved it. As they were talking, Regina kept glancing over at Emma. She missed being near the blonde and it took every ounce of willpower not to walk over to her. Emma looked up as well and smiled at her. Regina immediately went weak in the knees. She knew she had told Emma last weekend she wasn’t ready to take the next step, but Regina could feel the familiar warmth pooling in her lower stomach. Maybe it was because of what Emma was wearing. She was sporting a grey tank top that spanned across her chest and showed the toned abs. Emma’s arms were impressively muscled as well, Regina’s mouth went dry every time she saw them. Her legs were clad in tight, blue jeans and she was wearing black sneakers.

“Regina?”

Regina startled out of her thoughts and saw Neal was looking at her questioningly.

“Sorry, what?” she asked.

“We've got to go back,” he smirked.

“Oh, yeah.”

Regina followed him back into the tent, it was time for the results. When she reached her shortbreads, she was glad they hadn’t melted. The filming resumed and one by one, Robért and Astrid judged their shortbreads. Emma won the signature challenge and she smiled brightly.

After a short break, they went back into the tent for the technical challenge and Regina felt nervous.

“For the technical challenge, Astrid wants you to make 12 identical stroopwafels,” Killian explained to them. “You will find the ingredients and the recipe on your counter. You will have 1 hour and 15 minutes for this challenge,” he added. “Astrid, do you have any wise words?” he asked.

Astrid took a step forward and smiled at them. “Keep it thin.”

“Well, after these helpful words, we’ll kick you out of the tent,” Killian chuckled.

Robért and Astrid walked out of the tent and Ariel looked at the bakers.

“On your marks, get ready… Bake!”

Regina frowned, she had never heard of stroopwafels. She read the spare recipe and prayed this wouldn’t be a disaster. She started to make the dough for the waffles and saw they had to go into the waffle iron to bake them in. The recipe read that she needed to let the dough rise, but not for how long. She decided on an hour as she didn’t think it would take very long to bake them. She scratched her head, she figured that the caramel would have stiffened up by the time the dough was ready. She looked around to see what the others were doing and saw that everyone was waiting as well. She glanced at the bowl in the proofing cabin and then walked over to Emma.

“This is a bit of weird recipe,” she sighed.

“Agreed,” Emma nodded, frowning. “I guess we wait.”

Regina chuckled and leaned on Emma’s counter. “I’ve never heard of these, you?” she asked.

Emma shook her head, she hadn’t either. Regina looked up at Emma and her mouth went dry at the sight again. Emma’s arms were right in her face, looking all impressive as Emma flexed and unflexed them with every movement. She dragged her eyes away from them, she needed to stay focused.

“I think they’re not that hard to make,” Emma said and Regina looked back up.

“No,” Regina agreed and stood straight. “I’m going to check on my dough,” she announced and wanted to walk away when Emma grabbed her wrist.

“I can’t wait for tonight,” she whispered.

Regina smiled and relaxed immediately. “Me neither.”

Emma let Regina go and Regina walked back to her counter. She prayed that the camera hadn’t spotted their little moment and when she looked around, she saw the camera was over at Mulan’s, she was being interviewed. Regina let out a breath of relief, no one had seen it. The hour was soon over, Regina spent most of it daydreaming about the blonde that stood at the counter next to her. The longer it went on, the more steamy her thoughts turned, and soon she was a blubbering mess. The familiar warmth had settled in between her legs and she knew there was only one way to get rid of it. As she started to heat up the syrup, she glanced aside at Emma. Regina had to use every strength she had not to go over and take her right there and then. She shook her head and concentrated on making the stroopwafels. Soon they were done and Robért and Astrid entered the tent again. Regina ended up having the best stroopwafels and she had no idea how she had done it. The filming seized for the day and Regina couldn’t wait until they were back at the hotel….

~~~

Emma was reading a book when there was a soft knock on the door. Emma immediately closed the book, she had been reading the same page for an hour now because her mind wouldn’t remember what she read as it was too busy to think of something else. She jumped off the bed and dashed the door and yanked it open. Regina stood waiting on the other side, looking at her with lust-filled eyes. Emma’s mouth went dry and she pulled the brunette into her room.

“Hi,” she smirked as she pushed Regina against the door.

“Hello,” Regina replied, voice husky.

It sent shivers down Emma’s spine and her knees buckled slightly. Regina reached up and cupped the back of her head, pulling her effectively closer. Emma brushed Regina’s lips before Regina pressed them against each other. Emma noticed how much hungrier Regina was and she smiled in the kiss. She wrapped her arms around Regina’s waist and pulled her off the door without breaking the kiss. She guided them to the bed and when Regina’s legs hit the bed, she sat down. Emma reached up and held Regina’s face in place, she was not done kissing the woman yet. She wondered if she would ever be done kissing her. Kissing Regina felt like the breath of air she needed. Kissing Regina felt like a warm pool she never wanted to leave. Kissing Regina felt like coming home to a home she had been looking for her whole life. Regina pulled Emma on top of her, clawing at her shirt. Emma got the hint and pulled her shirt off. The kiss got broken, but the spell between them remained. The air was thick around them as Emma looked down at Regina. The brunette’s chest was heaving and her chocolate brown eyes were almost black with lust. Emma helped Regina out of her blouse, pushing it down her shoulders. Regina’s hands reached up to remove Emma’s bra and Emma saw her breath hitched when Emma’s bra fell away. Emma went behind Regina’s back and removed her bra as well. Emma’s mouth went dry at the sight, the brunette looked beautiful. She couldn’t help herself and brushed Regina’s nipples. Regina moaned and her back arched up. Emma smiled and bent down to kiss her again. Emma touched every spot she could reach until her fingers bumped on Regina’s waistband. She broke the kiss and looked Regina in the eye.

“Are you sure?” she whispered.

Regina’s eyes focused on Emma and she nodded. “Please,” she rasped.

Emma swallowed thickly and unbuttoned Regina’s pants. Regina bucked her hips with want and Emma let her hand slide into the pants. She could feel Regina was wet through her panties, the heat engulfed her fingers. She pressed down on Regina’s clit teasingly before removing her hand completely. Regina whimpered at the loss of contact, but Emma grabbed the waistband of Regina’s jeans and pulled them down. She didn’t want Regina’s first time to be half-clothed. She wanted to give Regina the full experience. She dropped the pants on the ground and crawled back on top of Regina. Regina yanked at Emma’s pants and Emma chuckled.

“Hold on,” Emma said and stood back up.

She unbuckled her jeans and kicked them off. Regina sat up again, looking at her. As soon as Emma was naked as well, Regina pulled her towards her and kissed her hard. Emma pushed her back on the bed again, she placed her leg in between Regina’s legs, pushing it up. Regina moaned at the contact and her head fell back on the bed. She looked up at Emma.

“Fuck me,” she rasped.

Emma kissed her in answer and slipped a hand in between them. Her middle finger brushed Regina’s clit and Regina bucked at the sensation. Emma pressed a bit harder, circling her clit.

“More,” Regina begged.

Emma moved her hand down further, gliding through the wet folds. She pushed through it and entered Regina with one finger. Regina let out a guttural moan and Emma had never heard something so beautiful. She pushed in deeper, it didn’t take much effort. She drew her finger back and plunged back in with two fingers. Regina wrapped her arms around Emma’s shoulder, pulling herself up. Emma started a steady pace, fucking Regina deep. Regina didn’t seem to be able to form words anymore, she only moaned. Emma could feel Regina’s walls clench around her fingers and Emma managed to wriggle out of Regina’s grasp and moved down. She kept up the pace as she poked out her tongue and licked Regina’s clit. Regina bucked up again, her whole body tensed as an intense orgasm raced through her body. Finally, Regina went limp and Emma pulled out her fingers.  
She crawled back up and took Regina into her arms. Regina almost crawled inside her, her arms wrapped tightly around Emma. Emma held her until Regina was back on earth again.

“Thank you,” Regina whispered before she fell asleep.

Emma smiled and pulled the covers over them before she fell asleep herself as well…

~~~

The next day went by in a blur for Regina. She had woken up in Emma’s arms that morning and she realized that she had fallen asleep without properly thanking Emma. Emma had laughed and said that it was okay. They would have plenty of time to do it all over again. Still, Regina felt guilty and she made a mental note of repaying the favor to Emma as soon as she could. Her showstopper didn’t end up as she had envisioned it and so it didn’t surprise her that she didn’t win star baker this week. She was over the moon to hear Emma had made star baker this week and was sad to see Aurora go. She had gone over to Aurora and hugged her. Aurora had wished her all the best with Emma and the competition. Before she knew it, she was sitting on the plane on the way home and separated from Emma for another week. She didn’t know how much longer she would be able to do this, but she knew she had to hold on just a bit longer…


	8. Chapter 8

Whistling, Regina was working on a half-finished cake. This was her challenge and she knew it. She didn’t even need to think about it, she knew what she wanted to make right away. It was cake week and she had been looking forward to it. Being with Emma that weekend and having dared to take the next step was also helping her good mood. She smiled when she thought back to their goodbye at the airport. They had managed to find a quiet spot away from everyone until it was time for Emma to go. Regina had let her go reluctantly with the promise that the blonde would be hers next weekend. Emma had smirked mischievously and had walked away to her gate. After that, Regina had restlessly waited for her flight to go. Emma had texted that morning very early, telling her she wouldn’t be on shift until later tonight. Regina had replied that she had a couple of meetings in the morning, which she didn’t look forward to. Emma had sent her a smiling selfie and Regina had had a hard time concentrating on the meetings. Regina had made a mental note to pay her back and sent a selfie just before Emma would start. She loved how they teased and flirted with each other, it made her feel alive again. During this weekend she had made up her mind, she was definitely falling for the person that Emma was, and not because she was a woman. Regina had thought about it and she realized she had lied to Zelena. She had loved Henry’s father, until she didn’t anymore. They had just grown apart, but she had loved him. It was definitely not the same love she felt for Emma, this was way stronger. But she was older now and wiser, she figured, and she had a better idea of what she wanted. She startled out of her thoughts when she heard the front door open and close. She listened closely and heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen. Henry appeared in the doorway and looked surprised to find his mother already home and baking. Again.

“You’re home early,” he remarked as he walked to the fridge to get a drink.

“I was done early for today,” Regina told him and showed him the sketch for the showstopper.

Henry glanced at it and nodded appreciatively. “Looks good,” he said as he took a sip of the cola. “So, you postponed your work to tomorrow?” he winked, he knew his mother too well.

Regina smirked and shrugged. “Maybe. Want a taste when this is finished?” she asked, pointing at the half-finished cake.

Henry frowned as he looked at it. “You know I want to be a good son and taste everything you make, but I also need to think of my figure,” he said with a pained voice, but his eyes were blinking with mischief.

Regina chuckled and shook her head. “Fine, your choice,” she said. “I’ll have to ask Zelena then.”

At that, Henry shot up. “No, no, I’ll help you!” he offered. He knew that if the cake would go to Zelena, he wouldn’t see a crumb of it. “I’ll go to the gym an extra day.”

Regina smirked and looked up at her son. “It's so kind of you volunteering to taste my cake,” she teased him.

Now Henry chuckled too, he knew he had been played. “Fine, call it volunteering. I’m going to do my homework now,” he said as he walked to the door. “Let me know when it’s done?” he asked.

“Of course,” Regina smiled and watched her son go.

She loved him to bits and she would do anything to make him happy…

~~~

Emma hadn’t seen Regina in three days and it started to get to her. She missed having Regina near her and she hated that they lived so far apart from each other. Of course they called and texted, but it was not the same. She couldn’t touch Regina whenever she wanted, or kiss her whenever she wanted. Not that she could do that during the weekend either with all the cameras pointed at them, but at least Regina would be in the vicinity. Emma looked up when Lily and her mother, Mallory, entered the little café they had agreed to meet at.

“Oh, you beat us to it,” Lily grinned.

Emma smiled, today would be the day Lily would introduce her to her mother. Due to conflicts of the busy schedules they both had, it had taken longer to meet up. Emma watched as Lily bounced on her feet excitedly and her smile grew. Her eyes glided to the woman behind Lily: Mallory. The woman smiled warmly at her and Emma could immediately see the resemblance.

“You must be Emma,” Mal said and stretched out her hand.

Emma stood up and accepted the hand. “I am,” she said. “It’s my pleasure to finally meet you for real,” she smiled.

“Likewise,” Mal said.

They sat down and quickly ordered something to drink. Emma studied Mal for a moment. She looked healthy and like a legit warm person. It was the eyes that really told her that. They flitted to Lily every now and again and they would light up like a Christmas tree.

“So, Emma and I practically grew up together,” Lily said, her smile widened.

Mal looked up at Emma. “Then I want to thank you for keeping my daughter safe,” she said earnestly.

Emma chuckled. “To be honest, she saved my ass more than I did hers,” she said. “I was a bit of a daredevil when I was younger.”

“Was that why you chose to become a firefighter?” Mal asked curiously.

“Well, actually, becoming a firefighter has calmed me down. It taught me about the dangers,” Emma told her. “It has opened my eyes.”

Mal smiled and they looked up when the waiter came by to bring the drinks. “That is good to hear,” she said as she clasped the cup of tea and looked up at Emma. “Lily told me you’re an orphan?” she asked softly. “If you don’t want to talk about it, I get it,” she hastily added.

“No, it’s okay,” Emma smiled reassuring and she realized she hadn’t told Regina anything about that part of her life. “I am an orphan, yes,” she nodded. “When I was a kid I of course fantasized about them, but when I was older I stopped looking. They must have had a really good reason to leave me,” Emma explained, sighing.

She had to admit, it still hurt a bit to talk about it. Rationally, she knew her parents probably had a reason why they couldn’t keep her, but irrationally she wanted to know.

“I’m sorry,” Mal offered and squeezed her hand. “Look, I know you’re a grown woman and used to doing things alone, but if you ever want to talk to someone other than Lily, you can count on me. I mean, you and Lily are practically sisters anyway.”

Emma looked at her incredulously and something warm filled her heart. She glanced at Lily, who looked at her with a puzzled look. Clearly, she hadn’t seen this coming either. A silent tear slipped from the corner of her eye, no one ever had offered this to her.

“Thank you,” she croaked. “I will keep that in mind.”

“Good,” Mal smiled softly. “Lily told me you are participating in a baking competition?” she asked.

Emma chuckled and looked at Lily. “Is there anything you haven’t told her?” she asked.

“Nope,” Lily smirked.

Emma shook her head and looked back at Mal. She told Mal almost everything about the competition. She couldn’t tell who participated of course and she didn’t mention her blooming relationship with Regina. She hadn’t even told Lily the latest developments and she planned on keeping that to herself for now. Every time she thought about how Regina had come undone underneath her touch, it gave her shivers and she wanted more of that. She’d had a brief taste of the brunette and she needed more. She wondered often how it would be to really make love to each other, without the time pressure. She couldn’t wait to find out.

“It was a pleasure to have met you,” Mal smiled as they said goodbye, Lily and Emma needed to get to the firehouse for their shift.

“Pleasure was all mine,” Emma smiled.

They said goodbye and Emma and Lily set off to the firehouse. It was only a few blocks away and Emma enjoyed the little walk with her friend.

“So, what do you think?” Lily asked and Emma could tell she was nervous.

“She really seems sweet,” Emma smiled. “Whatever the reason for her giving you up, it doesn’t exist anymore,” she added.

Lily nodded. “It certainly doesn’t,” she smiled.

“Did she ever tell you why?” Emma asked. She had been meaning to ask for a while now.

“Yeah,” Lily said. “My father had pissed off the second he heard she was pregnant with me and when I was born she had another boyfriend. She told me he was sweet at first until he lost his job. He started drinking and hitting her. She worked two jobs to take care of me and him and she got addicted to uppers. One night she passed out from work and apparently the neighbors called because I had been crying for hours. Anyway, the cops showed up, social workers and it appeared my mom’s boyfriend had been hitting me. I had all these old broken bones. It also explains why my knee is messed up,” Lily told her. “It was not my mom’s fault, but she just couldn’t cope and she gave me up for adoption. She did keep tabs on me though, and my caseworker apparently sent her pictures some times.”

Emma whistled, that was intense. “That’s how she recognized you,” Emma deducted.

“Yes,” Lily nodded. “She told me she finally has her life back on track, and she really does. She has a steady job, a nice apartment, and she’s been clean for ten years now.”

“That is really admirable,” Emma smiled. “I’m happy for you,” she added.

“Thank you,” Lily smiled back and hugged Emma. “Thanks for meeting her.”

“Any time,” Emma winked.

They walked into the firehouse, ready for another shift.

~~~

Friday had rolled around quicker than Regina had anticipated. Work had unexpectedly swamped her and she had been pretty busy for the rest of the week. What did concern her was that Emma had fallen silent since that morning, but Emma had said she would be on shift until shortly before her plane would leave. Regina tried not to worry, but it had wormed its way into her stomach. She was fidgeting with a coaster that was laying on the table when Ruby grabbed her hand.

“She will come,” she reassured the brunette.

“I know,” Regina groaned and looked up startled. “I mean…”

“Regina, it’s okay,” Ruby said. “I know.”

Regina sighed and ducked her head. “Shit,” she mumbled. “No one is supposed to know.”

Ruby chuckled and shook her head. “I’m not going to tell anyone, but come on, you two are practically drooling over each other.”

Regina groaned, placing her head on her arms that laid on the table. “Is it that bad?” she asked.

“If you know it, it’s hard to not see,” Ruby chuckled.

“Who knows?” Regina asked as she looked up.

“I think just me and Mulan, and I think I owe her a couple of bucks,” Ruby groaned.

“You bet on us?” Regina asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” Ruby smirked. “I thought you would reject Emma.”

Regina shook her head and relaxed a bit. “To be honest, I would never have pictured myself with a woman,” she said softly.

“If she makes you happy,” Ruby shrugged and took a sip of her tea.

“She does,” Regina smiled. “Shit, you weren’t supposed to be the first I told,” she groaned.

“Sorry,” Ruby chuckled. “And you didn’t exactly tell me, I already knew.”

“Okay, fine,” Regina huffed. “I wanted to tell Henry first,” she said.

Ruby smiled softly. “How is he doing?” she asked.

“Good,” Regina smiled. “He just got accepted into the baseball team,” she told Ruby proudly.

“That is amazing!” Ruby exclaimed. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.” Regina smiled and glanced back outside, there was still no sign of Emma.

Ruby followed her glance. “Last week she was late as well, remember?” she said softly.

Regina nodded, Ruby was right. Slowly the rest joined them at the café. Only she, Ruby, Emma, Mulan, Tink, and Neal were left in the competition. Regina’s anxiety rose when Leroy showed up with the van and Emma still hadn’t shown up. They walked to the van and got in. Regina expected Leroy to wait, but he started the van and Regina shot forward.

“Emma isn’t here yet, shouldn’t we wait?” she asked anxiously.

Leroy looked at her through the rearview mirror. “Emma is running late,” he told her. “I will be picking her up later.”

Regina frowned and leaned back again. This wasn’t a good sign, even if her plane was delayed they would wait. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked Emma’s messages again. Emma hadn’t sent any new message and she had been last online at 7 a.m. Regina’s anxiety rose and she took a shuddering breath. She decided she would try to call Emma when she was in her hotel room, it wouldn’t be safe now. The drive to the hotel went by exceptionally slow and Regina was glad when she finally saw the hotel. Leroy parked the van and Regina was out of it in the blink of an eye. She grabbed her bag and dashed inside. She picked up her key at the desk and disappeared upstairs.  
She was sure the rest were wondering what was going on with her, but she didn’t really care. She needed to call Emma and she needed to do that now. She rushed into her room and slammed the door close behind her. Not even walking further into the room, Regina leaned against the door and dialed Emma’s number. Shaking, she heard it ring once, twice, trice until it sprang to voicemail.

_“Hi! You have reached my mailbox. I’m probably busy putting out fires or rescuing little kittens. Anyway, leave your message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!”_

Regina hung up and closed her eyes in frustration. Her gut was telling her something was wrong. Emma should have been done with her shift hours ago, why wasn’t she answering? Regina walked into her room and sat down on her bed. It looked like she would be sleeping on her own tonight, it was almost midnight. There was no way Emma would show up in the middle of the night. Regina grabbed her bag and found her pajama’s. She decided to go for a shower and then try to get some sleep. As she finished showering, she brushed her teeth and slid in between the covers. She grabbed her sketchbook and looked at the sketch she made for the showstopper. She was sure it would impress the judges and she hoped it would help her win star baker. But she wasn’t sure if she would be able to concentrate enough and act as if nothing is wrong if Emma didn’t show up. Before she went to sleep, she once again checked her messages but nothing had come in. She decided to send Emma a text that she was worried and hoped that Emma was okay. She set her alarm, locked her phone, and turned off the light…

~~~

Emma hadn’t shown up the next morning at breakfast either. She also hadn’t seen Regina’s texts and Regina really started to worry. She hardly tasted her breakfast, her insides were churning. As the van drove them to the filming location, Regina kept checking her phone.

“Still nothing?” Ruby asked quietly and Regina shook her head. “I’m sorry,” Ruby offered and Regina smiled thankfully at her.

They arrived at the filming location and, as usual, they got ushered into the makeup trailer. By the time Regina was walking up to the tent, she had given up on the idea of ever seeing Emma again. Her heart already had accepted the worst-case scenario and now her head was catching up. It was all Regina could do to not choke up and put on a brave face. She ignored the empty counter next to hers and stood behind her own counter. Stone-faced, she looked at the front of the tent, waiting for the filming to start. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a flurry of motions next to her and her head whipped to the set. Next to her stood an apologetic, smiling Emma, her arms wrapped up in bandages.

“Hi,” she said awkwardly.

Regina opened her mouth to burst out at Emma, but Sidney stepped forward.

“We’re already behind,” he barked. “Let’s start.”

Regina sent burning daggers towards Emma. The blonde was standing there next to her, alive and well when Regina was already trying to get used to not seeing her ever again. Regina was seething, but there was nothing she could do now. So she tore her eyes away from Emma and focused on the task at hand, making a fruitcake. Regina tried to clear her mind as she started making the dough, but it didn’t really work. She had made fruitcakes so many times, it was pure muscle memory. Every now and again she glanced over at Emma, who seemed to struggle a bit. Regina’s heart softened and she wanted to go over there to help her out. Emma looked up and smiled at her, at which Regina’s head immediately roared. Emma had ignored her for more than twenty-four hours and she hadn’t told Regina she had clearly been injured. Regina looked away, pissed, and handled her dough a little rougher than necessary. She threw it in the bowl harder than needed and placed it in the proofing cabinet. After that, she started making the filling which would contain apple, cinnamon, and raisins. It was her favorite take on an apple pie. When the dough had risen enough, she put it in the oven and had to wait for it to be ready so she could fill it. She leaned against the counter behind her, it was empty anyway. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some movement and she looked up. Emma stood next to her, looking like a guilty puppy.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Emma…” Regina started but stopped immediately when she saw the camera swinging their way.

She nodded towards it and Emma started to walk away.

“I’ll explain,” Emma whispered just before she turned to walk back to her counter.

“You better,” Regina grumbled and knelt in front of the oven.

From her spot on the ground, she saw the camera had picked Emma as a victim and Killian was clearly grilling her about her injuries. Regina couldn’t hear what was being said and she didn’t want to. Emma needed to tell it to her face herself, she decided. She had to admit, the anger was seeping out of her since Emma had looked at her with that guilt-ridden face. Regina started to believe Emma hadn’t meant to shut her out. The oven beeped and Regina pulled out the cake. It looked perfect and she was sure the taste would be delicious. She had added cinnamon to the cake, which would complement it.

“Five more minutes!” Ariel called.

Regina started to fill the cake and was happy to see she had finished perfectly within the time limit. She placed the cake at the end of the counter and the filming stopped. Regina undid the apron on her back and stalked out of the tent, Emma followed her suit. Regina led them away from the rest of the group and the eyes of the production team, she needed some privacy for this. When she was sure they were alone, she turned on Emma.

“What the hell happened?” she bristled.

It was only now, away from the harsh lights, that she could see how tired Emma looked. Her eyes were dull and even though the makeup artist had done her best, the dark bags under Emma’s eyes shone through.

“My last call out, it went wrong,” Emma sighed and she sank on the grass. Regina sat down next to her, careful not to touch her. “There was an apartment on fire and I went in first. The roof collapsed on me and trapped me. The smoke was too much for my mask and I passed out. Next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital,” she told Regina with bated breath. Regina’s eyes had filled with tears when she heard Emma’s story. So her gut had been right, Emma had been in danger. “And about me not replying to you or calling you, my phone is still in my locker,” Emma explained.

Regina shook her head, speechless, and resisted to urge to cuddle Emma. “I get it,” she choked out. “I get it now. What the hell are you doing here?” she asked incredulously.

Emma shrugged and winced. “Because I felt well enough to compete,” she said.

“And did your doctor agree on that?” Regina scolded.

“Not exactly,” Emma grimaced and looked up at Regina. “I’m so sorry I worried you.”

Regina took a deep breath, not sure how to respond to that. “You did worry me,” she admitted. “More than I care to admit,” she chuckled. “Can I hug you?” she finally asked.

Emma nodded and spread open her arms for Regina. Regina gently hugged her, making sure not to brush against Emma’s arms. Emma melted into the embrace and Regina felt her relax in her arms. Her own heartbeat was finally slowing down as well and, at this moment, she didn’t care if anyone saw them. She needed this. She needed to assure herself that Emma was safe and sound and for now, this was the only way. Behind them, someone cleared their throat and both Emma and Regina looked up. Ruby was looking down at them grinning.

“Nova is looking for you two,” she winked and Regina and Emma stood up. “I covered for you,” she added as they made their way back to the tent.

“Thanks,” Regina smiled and realized she had made a good friend in Ruby.

Ruby only nodded at her with a smile and looked aside at Emma. “Are you okay?” she asked.

“I am now,” Emma smiled as she quickly squeezed Regina’s hand.

“You two are going to give me cavities,” Ruby laughed, shaking her head.

As they approached the tent, Emma let go of Regina’s hand and walked into the tent. Regina accepted a new, clean apron from Nova and walked into the tent as well. She felt so much lighter now and she realized that this might happen again. Regina shook her head, she shouldn’t think about that now. Emma was alive and standing next to her. She knew Emma was working a dangerous job and she knew what she was getting into when she started this thing with Emma. She chuckled, she wasn’t even sure if they were officially dating. Her mind helpfully reminded her of the restless night she had and all those hours she had her stomach in knots and Regina sighed. Yes, this would happen again, she was sure of it, but she knew she wouldn’t leave Emma because of it. Sidney asked for silence in the tent and Regina’s head snapped up, it was game time again. Killian, Ariel, Robért, and Astrid entered the tent again and, one by one, Robért and Astrid tasted their fruitcakes. Regina earned an impressed handshake from Robért and she couldn’t stop smiling. After the judging of the fruitcakes, they were sent out of the tent again so the crew could make everything ready for the technical challenge. Regina walked over to the coffee trailer and ordered an espresso and a latte macchiato for Emma.

“Relieved that she made it?”

Regina looked up and found Mulan standing next to her with a knowing smirk. Regina chuckled when she remembered the bet between Mulan and Ruby.

“Yes,” she smiled softly.

“I could see that,” Mulan winked as she accepted her own drink.

“I heard you earned some bucks on me,” Regina teased.

Mulan looked up startled, but when she saw Regina’s smirk, she relaxed. “Yeah,” she chuckled. “Which surprised me, I figured since you and Ruby know each other, Ruby would know,” she mused.

“How do you know that?” Regina asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mulan’s eyes went big in realization. “Ooooh shit,” she breathed. “Please don’t kill Ruby. She didn’t mean to tell me and I haven’t told anyone,” she pleaded.

Regina shook her head, she figured it would come out sooner or later. “I won’t,” she promised Mulan.

“Thanks,” Mulan replied, sighing in relief. “To be honest, I kind of really like Ruby,” she admitted, looking away from Regina.

Regina smiled softly, she could totally see Ruby and Mulan together. “I think she likes you too,” Regina winked at her.

The big smile Mulan gave her made Regina’s heart melt. Together they walked back to the group and Regina handed Emma her latte macchiato.

“Thanks,” Emma smiled at her brightly.

“You’re welcome,” Regina smiled back.

Nova came walking towards them to call them back into the tent, it was time for the technical challenge. Emma’s fingers grazed Regina’s hand as they walked back into the tent and Regina had to restrain herself from not grabbing Emma’s hand. Instead, she looked up and gave Emma a goofy smile. Emma smirked back as she stood behind her counter, donning the apron. Before Emma could tie it behind her back, Regina was already reaching around her and knotted it for her.

“Thanks, babe,” Emma said without thinking and looked behind her as she bit her lip.

Regina froze, it was the first time Emma had called her babe. Regina looked around her quickly and kissed Emma on the cheek quickly.

“You’re welcome, dear,” she whispered.

Emma ducked her head, Regina just spotted the smile on Emma’s face. With a smirk, she walked back to her counter. She knew she was walking on thin ice by displaying affection openly, but she didn’t really care. All she cared about was that Emma was here, somewhat in one piece. Regina knotted the apron behind her back and looked up just as Sidney asked for silence. Regina wondered what the technical challenge would be and soon she found out. It was chocolate jaffa cakes. Regina frowned, she had made them a long time ago and they had failed miserably. She read through the short recipe and knew she couldn't just wing this. She glanced aside and saw Emma smirking. Apparently, she knew what she was doing. Regina chuckled and set to work. She made enough dough for the twelve cakes and chucked it into the oven to bake. She started to heat up the chocolate and stirred it every now and again to keep it liquid. Soon, she took out the cakes and started to coat the jaffa cakes the way she thought it was done.

“Only half,” Emma suddenly whispered behind her and winked as Regina looked up.

Emma made her way to the fridge and Regina smiled thankfully at the blonde. Quickly she corrected her mistakes and hoped no one had seen it. The time was up just when Regina finished the last jaffa cake. After a quick clean up, they brought the cakes forward and placed them behind their pictures.  
Regina sat down on one of the stools and Emma came sitting next to her. Robért and Astrid reentered the tent and the judging started. Emma ended up first, Regina ended second. Regina breathed out in relief when the filming stopped and they were allowed to go back to the hotel.

~~~

“Can I ask you something?”

Emma opened her eyes and looked at the brunette stretched out next to her. “Of course,” she said.

Regina ducked her head and Emma smiled, shy Regina was cute as fuck. “Well, I was just wondering,” Regina started, still not looking up.

“Yeah?” Emma chuckled.

Now Regina looked up and chocolate brown eyes hooked into green eyes. “Are we dating?” she asked softly.

A smile spread on Emma’s face. “Would you want that?” she counter asked.

“Yes.”

It was barely above a whisper, and it made Emma melt. “I would like that too,” she said and kissed Regina.

While being trapped in the burning apartment, the only thing Emma could think of was Regina. The last thing she had seen before she passed out had been Regina’s eyes and Emma firmly believed it was Regina who had woken her up, as Regina had been the first thing on her mind when she had opened her eyes. In the hours after that, she had longed for Regina to be here instead of Lily. Of course, she was thankful to Lily, but she preferred another brunette. It had made Emma realize she didn’t want to spend another minute without Regina in her life. Of course she knew she couldn’t just up and leave the life she had in New York, but she needed Regina in her life. And, apparently, Regina wanted that as well, she wouldn’t have asked it otherwise. Regina reached up to Emma’s face and Emma winced in pain as Regina’s elbow grazed her arm. Regina immediately pulled back, scared.

“Oh shit, are you okay?” she asked, her eyes wide in panic.

“I’m fine,” Emma reassured her and pulled her back. “Just a bit sore.”

Regina swallowed as she looked at Emma. “You had me so worried,” she whispered.

A lump formed in Emma’s throat, no one had worried for her like that before. “I’m sorry,” Emma whispered.

“Promise you’ll always come back to me?” Regina asked, her eyes filled with hope.

“Always,” Emma promised and kissed her again.

~~~

Morning had come too soon for Regina’s liking. She had woken up before the alarm went off and looked at the still-sleeping Emma in her arms. She smiled at the sight and she brushed away the lock of hair that had fallen over Emma’s face. She was so happy she had gotten the confirmation that Emma wanted to date her as well and Regina couldn’t help but start thinking of the future. She knew Emma had her own life in New York and couldn’t just move. Yet Regina didn’t know if she could wait for another four years before she was free to move to New York. She wondered if she could resign as mayor early.

“Good morning.”

Regina looked down and saw Emma was looking at her with sleepy eyes. Regina smiled and kissed her. “Good morning,” she said. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Better,” Emma replied and yawned. “Still tired, though.”

Regina glanced at the clock. “We didn’t sleep until one this morning, so I get that.”

Emma glanced at the clock as well and saw it was barely seven o’clock in the morning. She groaned and looked back up at Regina.

“Do you think they’ll notice if we play hooky?” she asked.

Regina chuckled and nodded. “I think they would come and drag us out of bed,” she chuckled.

“Dammit,” Emma groaned and she threw the covers off her. “Want to join me in the shower?” she asked. “I kind of need some help,” she added with a mischievous smirk.

“Of course you do,” Regina chuckled.

She followed Emma into the shower and helped her out of her pajama pants and sleep shirt. Emma stepped into the shower while Regina stripped out of her own pajamas. She followed Emma into the shower and noticed the water was already warm. Regina helped Emma soap up and washed her hair for her. Emma kissed her deeply while letting her soapy hands glide over Regina’s body. Regina grinned, she already knew where this was going. Softly, she pushed Emma against the tiled wall and kissed her neck. Emma moaned at the feeling and let her arms hang loose around Regina’s shoulder. Regina kissed every spot of skin she could reach as her hands roamed over Emma’s body. She felt so smooth under her fingers and Regina couldn’t wait until she could explore more of her. Emma opened her legs when Regina’s hand went down and slipped in between Emma’s legs. Emma moaned as Regina’s finger brushed her clit and Regina loved feeling the vibration of Emma’s moan through her body. She pressed against the bundle of nerves and Emma’s hips bucked. She grinned as she sucked on Emma’s neck. Emma gyrated her hips towards Regina impatiently and Regina smirked. She let her hand slip down further and she dragged two fingers through Emma’s wet folds. Regina pushed in two fingers deeply and Emma moaned, throwing her head back against the tiles. Regina placed her free hand on Emma’s lower back to keep her steady and started pumping in and out. It wasn’t until Regina changed tactics and made a come hither movement that Emma really went wild. Regina brushed the rough spot in Emma’s inner wall and Emma exploded. She came with a loud groan.

“Reginaaaa!” she screamed.

Regina liked how her name sounded on Emma’s lips and she was determined to hear it more often. She helped Emma come down from her high and kissed her. Emma grinned into the kiss.

“Are you sure you'd never made love to a woman before?” she asked.

Regina grinned, she took that as a compliment. “Yes.”

Emma looked up at her, biting her lip. Regina’s knees went weak at that, she looked so sexy there.

“Then you are a natural,” Emma said, her voice husky.

Regina blushed at that and Emma kissed her ferociously. It looked like she wanted to push Regina against the wall, but Regina stopped her.

“Not now,” she smiled. “We have to hurry.”

“Dammit,” Emma swore, she knew they wouldn’t be able to get together until next week. “I hate this part,” she said.

“Me too,” Regina replied as she kissed Emma.

They stepped out of the shower and when they both were dressed, Regina helped Emma bandage her arms again, they looked angry red. Regina swallowed at the sight, she was sure Emma would be left with a couple of scars.

“Does it hurt?” Regina asked.

“Not anymore,” Emma replied.

Regina finished up bandaging Emma’s arms and they rushed down. They had barely eaten breakfast when Leroy showed up to bring them to the tent…

~~~

Emma was in pain, she couldn’t deny that. Lily had given her a few strong painkillers, but they only took off the edge. She had, of course, lied to Regina. She had seen the worry in her eyes when she had asked if she was in pain. Emma took a deep breath, this would be a long day. She pictured the cake she wanted to make in her mind and wasn’t sure if she would actually be able to do it. She found a quiet spot as they waited for Robért and Astrid to arrive in the tent and dialed Lily’s number.

 _“Emma? Are you okay?”_ Lily’s voice sounded worried and Emma squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the tears from falling.

“It hurts,” she breathed.

 _“I’m coming to get you,”_ Lily said and she heard rustling in the background.

Emma realized it was still early morning and Lily was off shift. “No, please don’t,” Emma said. “Just talk me through it,” she asked.

She heard Lily sigh and she could picture her sitting on the edge of the bed. _“Okay,”_ she agreed. _“Take a deep breath for me, okay?”_ Emma took a shuddering breath as pain shot through her bent arm. _“Imagine the pain leaving your pain through your fingertips.”_ Emma relaxed and tried to imagine it. It did help a bit and Emma could breathe more freely.

“Thank you,” Emma breathed.

 _“Better?”_ Lily asked.

“Enough to go on,” Emma replied. “I promise I’ll go back to the hospital as soon as I’m back.”

 _“If you’re not, I’m going to kick your ass all the way there,”_ Lily threatened.

Emma chuckled and looked up, she saw the judges had arrived. “I hadn’t expected anything less,” she said. “I’ve got to go now. Thanks again.”

 _“You’re welcome, sis,”_ Lily replied. _“Good luck.”_

“Thanks.”

Emma hung up and walked over to her counter. She could see Regina looking at her curiously, but she chose to ignore it. She concentrated on what Killian was saying and soon she was busy working on her cake. The pain was clouding her vision and every now and again she saw double. She bit through it though, she refused to give up. Finally, she placed the last layer on the cake and started the piping of the cake. Suddenly, two arms reached around her and she found a warm body behind her.

“Let me help you,” Regina whispered in her ear.

Emma gave up and watched as Regina finished the piping of the cake. It looked gorgeous in the end and Emma had no idea how she had managed to get it this pretty without Regina’s help.

“Thank you,” she smiled weakly.

Regina only nodded and looked up at her with a stern look. “We have to talk when we’re done filming,” she said.

Emma only nodded, she hadn’t much strength left. After what felt like hours, the filming stopped. Emma stumbled out of the tent and, if Regina hadn’t caught her, she surely would have collapsed on the ground. Regina guided her out of the tent and Emma frowned when she saw two medics were waiting for her with a stretcher.

“What?” Emma spluttered.

“You’re going to the hospital,” Regina said matter of factly as she helped Emma lay down on the stretcher.

“But, we’re not done yet,” Emma protested.

“You are,” Regina said firmly. “I’ll come to you as soon as I can,” she promised as she kissed Emma softly.

Emma wanted to protest, but all the strength had left her body. She blinked, fighting against the heavy tiredness that fell over her as a weighted blanket.

The next thing Emma saw were bright neon lights above her. The heaviness was still present in her limbs, but the pain was gone. With a bit of trouble, Emma turned her head and found Regina sitting next to her. It wasn’t until then that she registered something brushing her hand. As she looked down, she saw Regina was holding her hand and brushing her hand with her thumb. Emma groaned and Regina looked up.

“Gina?” Emma croaked.

Regina stood up and sat next to her, looking at her with love-filled eyes. “Welcome back,” she said softly. “You gave us quite a scare.”

“Sorry,” Emma mumbled. “What happened?” she asked.

“You developed an infection,” Regina told her. “Luckily, they caught it early.”

“Shit,” Emma mumbled. “And the Great Bake Off?” she asked.

Regina smiled. “You’re through to next week,” she told Emma. “Tink went home.”

Emma nodded. “I will miss her,” she croaked.

“Me too.”

Emma closed her eyes again, she was so tired. She drifted back off to sleep, dreaming about chocolate brown eyes and the brushing on her hand…


	9. Chapter 9

Emma had been released from the hospital three days later. Jake had told her she wouldn’t be allowed back to work until she had recovered enough and it had put her in a bad mood. First, she was three days behind in her schedule to practice for the Great Bake Off, and secondly, she missed work like crazy. So she had found a solution. Whenever her team was on shift, she would show up and bake her pies there. Jake had scolded her, but she had told him she had more room here and she needed tasters. He had let her come to the firehouse but chased her out every evening.

She had just pulled out her pie for the signature challenge when Lily hopped on the counter.

“Already hard at work, I see?” Lily eyed the delicious-looking cake.

“I’ve got a competition to win,” Emma smirked.

Lily chuckled and eyed Emma’s still healing arms. Emma still had bandages on, some of the blisters had opened and she didn’t want to get more infections. “How are you doing?” Lily asked.

Emma looked up and knew she couldn’t lie to Lily. “It could be better,” she sighed. “I feel tired and beat. They do hurt every now and again when I do too much,” she added.

Lily nodded. “Burns aren't nothing,” she said softly. “You should have stayed in the hospital the first time,” she added sternly.

“I know!” Emma whined. “It’s just, I wanted to go. I wanted to bake, be with the group that have become friends and…

“And to see Regina,” Lily chuckled.

Lily had met Regina at the hospital after the filming had been wrapped up. She had immediately recognized the woman, she had looked exactly like Emma had described her. The woman had looked regal, but the worried look on her face had given her away. She had introduced herself and led her to Emma. She had left them alone, knowing Emma was in good hands.

“Yes,” Emma sighed. “I made such a mess of it,” she added.

“Maybe a bit,” Lily chuckled. “But I don’t think Regina thinks that.”

Emma groaned and looked up at her friend. “I don’t know,” she said. “Regina’s been a bit distant this week.”

“Maybe she’s busy,” Lily said.

“Or maybe I screwed up,” Emma grimaced, cutting out a piece of the pie she had made.

“Call her,” Lily advised her as she grabbed a fork. She started eating the pie happily and moaned in delight. “Why have I never tasted this before?” she asked accusatorily.

“Because it’s a new recipe?” Emma chuckled.

Lily nodded appreciatively as she took another bite. “This is good,” she said around a mouthful. At that moment, the alarm blared through the firehouse and Lily put down the pie. She hopped off the counter and walked to the stairs. “Call her!” she called over her shoulder.

Emma walked to the balustrade and watched the firetrucks and ambulance leave without her and she sighed. She missed her job. As she walked back to her cake, she pulled out her phone and shot Regina a text.

_**Emma:** Do you have time tonight to call?_

She put the phone away again and started to make another batter, she wasn’t completely satisfied with this one.

~~~

Regina had been feeling like a ball of nerves all day. Emma had texted her with the question if she had time to call. She never had done that and Regina was scared she had fucked things up by calling an ambulance for Emma. Regina’s colleague had scolded her more than once during her last meeting and Regina tried to keep her mind at the present subject, but she kept thinking about Emma’s text.  
As soon as the meeting was finished, Regina rushed back to her office to pick up her things and go home. She checked her phone but didn't have any new messages from Emma. Her anxiety rose and she took a deep breath. The doctor had said that if Emma hadn’t been admitted to the hospital, the infection would have gotten worse and that it might have ended up with amputating the arms since it was a persistent infection. Surely Emma wouldn’t be pissed about that, right?  
She could see Henry look at her worriedly during dinner, but she wasn’t ready yet to tell. First, she needed to talk to Emma. Luckily, Henry didn’t say anything and, after they did the dishes together, he disappeared upstairs. Nervously, Regina waited for Emma to call after she had texted her that she had done the dishes and had all the time in the world. Regina sat down at the kitchen bar and placed her phone in front of her. Impatiently, she tapped her fingers on the counter and was just about to check if Emma even had seen the message when it started ringing.

_Emma wants to video call._

Regina swallowed, she hadn’t counted on that. Quickly, she tried to order her curls before giving up and picking up the phone. She tapped accept and Emma’s face appeared on her screen. Regina’s heart almost stopped at the sight, she looked gorgeous.

“Hey,” Regina started.

 _“Hi,”_ Emma replied and smiled softly at her. _“How was your day?”_ she asked.

“Long,” Regina chuckled. “How are you?” she asked.

Emma looked away from the screen briefly before she sighed and looked back at Regina. _“I have felt better,”_ she admitted.

“I’m sorry,” Regina sighed, her anxiety was flaring up again.

 _“It’s not your fault,_ ” Emma said, finding Regina’s eyes. _“The doctor told me you saved my life,”_ she added.

Regina looked up, surprised. “So you’re not mad at me for calling an ambulance?” she asked and perked up.

Emma chuckled and shook her head. _“Of course not,”_ she smiled. _“Wait, is that why you’ve been so distant?”_

Regina bit her lip, Emma had noticed. “Yes. I’m so sorry, I thought you were mad at me and…” she started rambling, but Emma’s laughter stopped her.

 _“Why would I be mad at you for saving my life?”_ she asked with a frown.

“Because you were hellbent on finishing that day,” Regina told her.

 _“I think I haven’t mentioned this, but I am very stubborn when it’s about my own health,”_ Emma said and shook her head. _“And here I was thinking I had fucked up with you,”_ she chuckled.

“How would you have fucked it up?” Regina asked curiously.

 _“By being a stubborn piece of work who refused to take care of herself,”_ Emma explained.

Regina laughed. “Stubborn you are,” she winked. “Well, I’m glad you’re doing better,” she said with a smile.

Emma nodded and looked at her arms. _“Getting there,”_ she smiled. _“But I hate not working,”_ she groaned.

Regina chuckled. “I get that.”

 _“Where are you?”_ Emma asked as she tried to look past Regina.

“In my kitchen,” Regina said and flipped the camera to show Emma.

 _“Oh, so this is where the magic happens!”_ Emma exclaimed.

“Among other places,” Regina grinned.

 _“Oh, dirty mind,”_ Emma chuckled. _“I miss you.”_

“I miss you too,” Regina said as she flipped the camera back to her. “A lot.”

“Mom?” Regina swiveled around and found her son standing in the doorway, looking at Regina’s screen. “Who is that?”

“Uh…” Regina stammered. “I… she… I’ll come in a minute, okay?” she finally asked. Her cheeks were burning.

_Shit._

This hadn’t been the way she had wanted him to find out. She turned to face Emma, who clearly saw how freaked out Regina was.

 _“That was your son?”_ Emma guessed and Regina nodded.

“This is not how I wanted him to find out,” Regina groaned. “What do I do?” she asked, looking up at Emma.

 _“Go talk to him,”_ Emma advised.

Regina swallowed thickly. “Can I tell him? About us?”

 _“Of course,”_ Emma smiled. _“Good luck. Let me know how it goes.”_

“Thank you, and I will.” Regina hesitated, looking at Emma’s soft smile and kind eyes. “I love you,” she whispered.

Emma’s eyes widened a bit, but then her smile turned even softer. _“And I love you. Now, go!”_

Regina nodded and hung up. She took a deep breath, not even realizing she had said the L-word for the first time. She needed to talk to Henry and she was not prepared.

She pocketed her phone and walked out of the kitchen, up the stairs to Henry’s room. She knocked and she heard Henry’s confirmation she could enter. He turned away from his desk when she entered and quickly cleared the chair standing against the wall.

“I will clean up later,” he said sheepishly.

Regina chuckled and nodded as she sat down. “It could be worse,” she winked.

“Yeah,” Henry chuckled and sat down in his desk chair, facing his mother.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” Regina started. “You just caught me off guard.”

“I did knock, but you didn’t hear me,” Henry explained. “I really didn’t want to startle you.”

“It’s not your fault,” she said as she shook her head. “Henry, there is something I want to tell you,” she said as she looked up at him. “That woman on the phone is Emma, she is one of the competitors of the show,” she explained. “She and I…” Regina’s voice trailed off, she didn’t know how to proceed on this part.

“You two are friends?” Henry tried to help.

Regina quirked the corner of her mouth up and took a deep breath. “No. Well yes, but there is a bit more to it. We are dating.”

With bated breath, she watched his face. At first, he looked surprised, but then he smiled. “Really?” he asked. “You’ve got an exquisite taste, she’s hot.”

At that Regina burst out laughing and shook her head. “Don’t let me hear you say that again about my girlfriend,” she smirked, reveling in how the word ‘girlfriend’ tasted in her mouth. “So, is this you saying you’re okay with it?” she asked, suddenly insecure.

“If the last weeks have been any indication, it looks like she makes you happy,” Henry smiled softly. “And that is important. So how can I be against something that makes my mom happy?”

Regina’s heart burst at that and she pulled him into a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Henry hugged her back and let go, he was still a teenage boy. Teenage boys didn’t cuddle with their mothers.

“So, when can I meet her for real?” he asked.

“Well, we kind of have to keep it a secret,” Regina sighed. “There is some rule against dating while on the show. So, after the show.”

“So that’s another three weeks, right?” he quickly counted and Regina nodded. “That’s okay. Gives me time to not drool over her,” he teased.

“Henry,” Regina warned him, but she smirked. She really had one of the greatest kids.

Regina left his room after wishing him goodnight and telling him if he had any questions, he could always ask them. Henry had promised he would and as Regina made her way downstairs, she pulled out her phone.

Regina: He is okay with us.

Within seconds she received a reply, Emma had sent her a red heart. Regina smiled, this would all work out…

~~~

The week had flown by and Emma wasn’t sure if she was fully prepared. Her arms weren’t hurting as much anymore, but she still kept them bandaged up. Her doctor had cleared her to go film for the Great Bake Off and Emma was thankful. She didn’t think she would survive another week without Regina. They had been back to their old level of texting and calling. Emma had been so relieved for Regina when her son appeared to be totally okay with them. From what Emma had seen, he looked like a clever kid.

“Hey!”

Emma looked up and found that she almost had run into Mulan, who was carrying some drinks.

“Hey,” Emma greeted and spotted their small group at a table near the window. She smiled when she spotted Regina. Regina hadn’t spotted her yet as she was talking animatedly with Neal. “I’m getting something to drink as well,” she told Mulan and turned to face the bar.

She ordered a cup of tea and made her way over to the table. Ruby saw her coming, winked, and stood up from her spot next to Regina. Emma smirked and slid into the now vacant spot. Regina was still talking with Neal and Emma watched her talk for a while.

“Hey,” she suddenly whispered in Regina’s ear and Regina almost jumped out of her seat.

“You almost gave me a heart attack,” Regina huffed.

“Sorry,” Emma smirked and had to resist the urge to wrap her arm around Regina.

She hated that they needed to be this sneaky. Three more weeks, she reminded herself. Regina’s hand grabbed hers under the table and squeezed it softly. Emma grabbed her tea with her free hand to take a sip so she could hide her smile. Regina engaged in conversation again while Emma just listened. She was tired from the flight and she couldn’t wait until she was in bed and in Regina’s arms.

“Leroy is here,” Mulan suddenly said.

Reluctantly, Regina let go of Emma’s hand and they walked outside to meet Leroy. Regina stepped in first and this time Emma was fast enough to claim the seat next to Regina. Regina smiled up at her as she settled in the seat. Emma grabbed her hand in the dark, she needed the contact. They drove through the dark to the hotel and Emma realized the group really had thinned out. There were only five of them left now. Emma liked the group like this, they had formed a friendship for sure. She looked up when Regina settled against her shoulder and she smiled. Ruby was looking at them, smirked, and formed a heart with her hands. Emma flipped her off and Ruby laughed as she turned back around. Emma frowned when she saw Mulan leaning into Ruby and rest her head on Ruby’s shoulder. Emma smirked, she already had her suspicions. She leaned into Regina and Regina squeezed her hand.

“You okay?” Emma whispered.

“Hmmm,” Regina replied. “Happy to have you here.”

“Me too,” Emma smiled.

The van soon parked in front of the hotel and they got out. Emma picked up her duffel bag and walked into the hotel to pick up her key. She smirked, she knew she wouldn’t be sleeping there. Without looking behind her, she walked up the stairs to her floor and leaned against the wall next to her door. Regina soon came walking through the hallway and she smirked when she spotted Emma waiting.

“Waiting for the bus?” she teased.

“Something like that,” Emma smirked.

Regina laughed and opened her hotel room. Emma followed her inside and just as she passed the threshold she looked up into the hallway. She could just spot Mulan entering Ruby’s room. With a smirk, Emma closed the door behind her and walked into the room to find Regina already stretched out on the bed, waiting for her. Emma dropped her duffel bag on the ground and crawled on the bed into Regina’s waiting arms.

She had missed this the most…

~~~

It was starting to get warm in the tent. The crew had placed some air conditioners inside but it wasn’t helping much. Regina was glad it hadn’t been like this during last week with the caramel, that would have been a disaster. They were waiting for the filming to start and Regina was already sweating. When she looked to her side, she saw Emma was trying to get some cold air by waving a towel in front of her face. She was still wearing the bandages and Regina could only imagine how hot they were. Finally, Sidney told them to get ready and the filming started. Killian, Ariel, Astrid, and Robért entered the tent, all wearing a big smile.

“Welcome back to a very warm tent, bakers,” Ariel smiled. “This week is pie week! And to make it a bit harder on you, it will be space-themed!” she added.

Regina groaned, she had not anticipated that. She calculated quickly if she could do the recipes she wanted to do with a space theme. With some slight alterations, it would be possible.

“For the first challenge, Robért and Astrid want you to make a custard pie. The flavor is up to you, but keep to the theme of this week,” Killian warned. “You will have one hour for this challenge.”

“On your marks,” Ariel said.

“Get ready,” Killian added.

“BAKE!” they both announced.

Regina immediately set to work making the batter for the pie. It needed to be in the proofing cabinet the longest, she could make the filling while it proved. Soon she was satisfied with it and she put the bowl in the cabinet. As she stood, she glanced at Emma and was glad to see Emma was doing well on her own. Emma looked up and winked at Regina. Regina smirked back and started to make the filling. She planned on making an apple pie custard pie, one of her specialties. She peeled the apples and made the mix for vanilla-flavored custard and added some cinnamon. Her timer went off and Regina pulled out the proven dough. It had risen well and she placed it in the baking tin. She covered the insides with the dough and poured the filling in. With the leftover dough, she made strips and placed them on top of the filling, to simulate an actual apple pie. She put it in the oven and set the timer again. As she was starting on the decoration to make it space-themed, Killian came strolling over.

“Hello,” he smiled.

Regina looked up and saw that the camera had followed him as well. She took a deep breath and smiled at him.

“Hello,” she smiled back.

“What are you making?” he asked.

Regina refrained from giving him the most obvious answer she could think of, it would only make this torture take longer. “I am making an apple custard pie with cinnamon,” she told him. “And I’m covering up the top with a constellation made out of marzipan,” she added.

“That sounds good,” Killian said and looked down as she started making the marzipan. “Good luck.”

“Thank you,” Regina smiled.

Killian and the cameraman walked off and she breathed a sigh of relief. That didn’t go too bad, she thought.

She concentrated on the marzipan and cut out star-sized pieces. When she had done the last, the timer went off and she pulled out the pie. It smelled delicious and she was positive it had turned out well. She took it out of the baking tin and saw there were no burned pieces.

“Five more minutes!” Ariel called.

Regina frowned, there wasn’t much time left. Quickly, she placed a big piece of marzipan over the pie, it was space colored and it engulfed the entire cake. Regina stuck it tightly to the pie and cut off some pieces to make it fit perfectly. She also cut away some strips on the top to make the filling visible. Next, she placed the stars on it in the shape of the Aquarius constellation. She had just placed the last star when Ariel called time. Satisfied, Regina looked at her pie, it was perfection.

The filming ceased and Regina walked out of the tent.

“How did you do?” Emma asked.

“Pretty good. You?” Regina asked as they sat down in the grass.

“I had to throw my original idea out of the window,” Emma huffed. “Would have been nice if they had given us a heads up,” she complained.

“Agreed,” Mulan nodded, she and Ruby had joined them.

Regina saw Neal standing on his own to the side and waved him over. He seemed to hesitate but then he walked over and joined them.

“That was not fair,” he complained as he sat down as well. “I hope I managed to work it in enough.”

“I’m sure you have,” Ruby said. “I could see you have more space-theme then I do,” she groaned.

“I’m sure we all did what we could,” Regina finally said. “It’s all we can do, right?”

“Hear, hear,” Emma said as she raised her coffee cup like a glass of beer.

They all laughed at Emma's antics. Regina bumped shoulders with Emma, which made Emma blush and smile harder.

Nova came over to call them back into the tent. Talking and laughing, they walked back to the now cleaned tent. They all received clean aprons and they sat behind their counter. The filming started up again and Robért and Astrid judged all the different pies. To her own surprise, Ruby won this challenge. After the judging, the filming ceased again and they got chased out of the tent.  
It was around noon and lunch was served. Regina picked up a few sandwiches and found a spot out of the sun to enjoy her meal. Soon, the rest joined her, Emma sat next to her. Their knees were touching and Regina could feel the warmth flowing through her.

“How are your arms, Emma?” Neal asked curiously.

“Getting better every day,” Emma smiled. “I can go without the bandages, but I didn’t want to startle our future viewers,” she explained.

“Aren’t you boiling underneath them?” Mulan asked and Emma nodded.

“I am,” she said. “But it is what it is for now. I hope it won’t be as hot tomorrow,” she added wistfully.

“It will,” Neal replied. “Will be even hotter.”

“Dammit,” Emma swore, she'd still have to wear the bandages as they were now.

Because the episodes would be montaged as if everything had been recorded on the same day, they had to wear the same things for the two days they were filming. It was a hassle, but not a very big problem.

Regina saw the frown on Emma’s face and she leaned more towards her so their shoulders touched.

“Maybe you can ask the crew to get an extra ventilator?” she suggested.

Emma nodded and smiled thankfully up at Regina. Regina’s heart skipped a beat at the sight, Emma’s face was so close. If she were to move for only an inch, their noses would touch. If she were to move a bit more, their lips would touch. Regina’s mouth went dry at the thought and she quickly looked away. Disappointment flooded her, she wanted to kiss Emma so badly. Emma placed her hand over Regina’s fingers and squeezed them softly.

“Anyone want to take a wild guess at the technical?” Ruby asked.

“It’s Robért’s turn right?” Neal asked and Ruby nodded. “Probably something we’ve never heard of,” he sighed.

“Most likely,” Regina nodded.

They tried to come up with some suggestions, but neither knew what it would be exactly.

“I’m going to miss you all when all of this is over,” Ruby sighed.

“We should come together for the finale,” Mulan suggested.

“That is a good idea,” Emma agreed. “In our meet up bar in Boston,” she grinned.

“Deal,” Ruby nodded enthusiastically. “We should invite the rest as well.”

“We have to invite Facilier too then, right?” Regina said, grimacing.

“I’ll keep him away from you,” Emma winked and Regina smiled.

Yet again she wanted to kiss Emma, and she was close to doing so when Nova showed up to come and get them for the technical challenge. Regina closed her eyes and stood up.

They were walking back to the tent when Ruby showed up next to her.

“You’re stronger than me,” she whispered.

“What do you mean?” Regina asked as she walked to her counter.

“Mulan and I have been sneaking off,” Ruby winked.

Regina shook her head. “Be careful,” she warned her friend.

“I will be,” Ruby said and walked off to her counter.

The filming started when everyone was in their places and Killian, Ariel, Astrid, and Robért came walking back into the tent again. Now Ariel stepped forward.

“For the next challenge, the technical one, Robért wants you to make six identical mini pear pies,” she told them.

Regina frowned, she had never heard of this. As she glanced around, she saw no one really had a clue.

“You will have 2 and a half hours for this challenge,” Killian added as he stepped forward and looked at Robért. “Do you have any wise words for our bakers?” he asked.

“Try not to get into too much of a twist,” Robért said.

“And with that, it’s time for you two to leave,” Ariel smiled.

Astrid and Robért left the tent and they got the signal to start baking. Regina pulled back the towel and read the very meager recipe. She scratched her head, this could be a disaster.

She started making the dough as best as she could think of with a recipe that only stated: Make the dough. Next, she needed to roll out the dough and fold it. When she saw the form, she started getting the hang of it. She took up the pears and peeled them. She had doubts about the stems and decided to keep them on. She followed the rest of the recipe and was praying she was doing it right.

Ariel visited her when she was cutting the rolled out, chilled pastry.

“How is it going?” Ariel asked.

Regina looked up. She was sure she was sweating and her head was probably red. “A disaster,” she stated.

“Need any help?” Ariel asked.

“Do you by any change have the complete recipe on you?” Regina joked, she already knew the answer.

Ariel shook her head with a sympathetic smile. “No, I’m sorry,” she said.

“No worries,” Regina said. “I think it’s already beyond saving.”

Ariel chuckled and left her to it. Regina continued to make the mini pear pies and was glad when they somewhat looked right when filming was paused. She walked out of the tent and was glad the day was almost over. Emma plopped down next to her, she looked miserable.

“Mine are collapsing,” she groaned.

“Mine don’t even want to stand up,” Mulan complained. “Who on earth eats those?” she exclaimed.

“Apparently, Robért,” Neal replied dryly.

“I don’t think I ever came across them anywhere,” Emma said with a thoughtful look.

“Have you ever even opened a recipe book?” Regina teased, smirking.

“I have!” Emma protested and stuck out her tongue at Regina.

Regina only smirked, Emma looked sexy when she was semi angry.

Nova showed up sooner than any of them wanted and called them back into the tent. The filming started up and they brought their mini pears pie to the judges' table and they sat down in a row on the stools across the table. Astrid and Robért entered the tent again and one by one they tasted the pies. Regina won, Emma came in fourth. Filming was wrapped up for the day and finally they were going back to the hotel. Regina was tired to the bone and she was glad Emma sat next to her again. Neither of them really cared anymore, Ruby and Mulan knew about them anyway. And Regina didn’t really care if Neal knew, she was sure he was cool with it. She settled against Emma's shoulder and fell asleep…

~~~

Emma looked down with a smile at the woman next to her. She and Regina were snuggled up on the bed, Emma reading a book while Regina was doing some work. Emma liked how Regina looked all serious, it made her warm inside. She tucked Regina closer to her, which made Regina look up with a sigh as she closed her iPad.

“Can I ask you something?” Regina asked.

“You just did,” Emma smirked.

“Ha ha, que funny,” Regina replied. “What’s going to happen next?” she asked quietly.

Now Emma looked up from her book. “What do you mean?”

“After everything is done here,” Regina said. “When are we going to see each other? I don’t think I’ll be able to handle just weekends for much longer.”

Emma swallowed, she had been thinking about it as well. “I… I don’t know,” she admitted and closed her book. “I would like to see you more, but we are both busy with work.”

“I have been looking into what it would entail if I resign as a mayor,” Regina admitted quietly. “But it would mean I have to move out of Camden and Henry is just settled there. I mean, if there is no other option, I would!” she added as she saw Emma’s confused face.

“No, Regina, I don’t want you to uproot yours and Henry’s whole life,” Emma protested. “I think it’s sweet, but I think it would be easier if I move,” she added. “I have no strings attached.”

“But what about your firefighter family?” Regina protested. “I don’t want to steal you from them.”

Emma chuckled. “You won’t,” she promised. “Yes, it will be hard to say goodbye, but they will understand if I want to be with you and form a family of my own.”

“Are you sure?” Regina asked, looking into Emma’s green eyes.

“I am,” Emma said before she kissed Regina. “But we’re not there yet.”

Regina shook her head. “Unfortunately not,” she murmured.

Emma chuckled at that. “Are you in that much of a rush to move in with me?” she asked and Regina looked slightly guilty. “You really are a lesbian,” she grinned.

“How so?” Regina asked puzzled.

“You don’t know the joke?” Emma laughed and Regina shook her head. “Okay, here goes. What does a lesbian bring on her second date?” Emma asked and Regina looked more puzzled as ever when she shook her head again. “A U-Haul,” Emma chuckled and saw how slowly it dawned on Regina.

“Ooooh,” she said. “Well, fuck,” she chuckled.

Emma pulled her closer and kissed her fiercely. “We’ll figure it out,” she whispered.

“Together,” Regina replied and Emma nodded.

_Together._

~~~

Regina had been tinkering with her sketch for her showstopper until she was happy with it. She had managed to transform it into a space-themed cake. Last night, she had actually thought of just making it a space cake by adding some weed to the dough. She had rejected it of course as it would definitely get her kicked off the show, but Emma had laughed about it. She had thought it was a great idea, they asked for a space-themed pie. This morning they had talked some more about how it would go after the show and Emma shyly had admitted she had found it scary to meet Henry. Regina had reassured her that Henry already loved her and prompted the idea of meeting through facetime for the first time. Emma had agreed to the idea. Regina was still reeling from how fast it was going, but at the same time, she was ready for it. She looked forward to waking up next to Emma every morning and going to sleep with her every evening. She knew they’ve only known each other for eight weeks and hadn’t really started dating until four weeks ago, but it felt right. It had never felt as right as she felt with Emma.

“Regina!” Sydney suddenly called, he was looking slightly pissed. “Are you there?” he asked.

“Yeah, sorry,” Regina mumbled.

Sydney started filming and Killian, Ariel, Robért, and Astrid came walking into the tent.

“For today’s showstopper the judges want you to make a three-tiered pie spectacle,” Killian told them. “You can decide what flavor, but they need to be space-themed again. You will have four hours for this challenge.”

Regina started working on her pies and was soon sweating again. She finished her pies in good time and just had time to decorate them to the space theme. Her lower pie was an apple pie, the second a rhubarb custard pie, and the last one strawberry with whipped cream. She was really satisfied with the outcome and was glad when the four hours were up. She walked outside, grabbed a few bottles of water, and plopped down on the grass to give her feet some rest.

“I’m dead,” Emma complained as she plopped down next to Regina and accepted the bottle she got handed. “Thanks.”

“Those showstoppers are a murder to make,” Neal agreed.

Regina just listened to them talking, she was too tired to talk. Emma’s arm snaked around her waist and she left it there, enjoying how close Emma was to her. Ruby and Mulan joined them too, both looking exhausted.

“I’m never doing this again,” Ruby exclaimed as she sat down.

“I’m afraid you have to,” Emma told her. “If you make it to next week that is.”

Ruby flipped her off just as Nova came to get them. The filming started up again and Ruby won this challenge. They immediately went through to the announcement of the winner and loser of the week. Regina wasn’t really scared, she was doing well. To all of their surprise, Ruby won this week's star baker and Neal had to say goodbye. Regina glanced at Emma, who was smirking at her. They would see each other next weekend again…


	10. Chapter 10

Going back home after that weekend was hard. Emma kept thinking about what Regina had said to her about moving in and she had to be honest, she felt herself yearning for it. Lately, the weekends had been the highlight of her weeks because she got to wake up next to Regina. During the week she had felt herself yearn for the warm body next to hers. Emma actually had started to ask around if there were any openings at Camden and she was seriously considering putting in a transfer. She had stopped herself there, she was going too fast. They still had two weeks left on the show, they couldn’t move in together before that. And then there was the matter of meeting Henry. Emma heaved a sigh, that was something she wasn’t looking forward to. Of course Regina had told her about how Henry had been okay with them, but actually meeting him was a different matter. Regina had suggested doing the first meeting through Facetime and, although Emma had told Regina that it made her less nervous, Emma was still scared. What if he didn’t like her in the end? What if she made a bad impression? Emma shook her head as she walked into the firehouse. She had been officially cleared for work and was excited to get back to work, it would take her mind off other things. Cheese was excited as well, he hadn’t liked having to leave her and going with Lily.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” Graham joked as he saw her walk past the firetrucks.

“Watch it, candidate,” Emma warned him, but let herself be pulled into his hug.

“Welcome back,” he smiled.

Emma smirked and walked to the changing rooms where the rest welcomed her back as well. Emma had just changed when Jake stepped into the changing room. He looked serious when his glance landed on Emma.

“Swan,” he said. “Can I have a word?” he asked, his voice stern. Emma frowned, nodded, and walked with him to his office. Jake motioned for Emma to sit down and he sat down behind his desk. “How are you feeling?” he started.

“Much better,” Emma said. “The pain is gone and the blisters are all healed.”

“That is good to hear,” Jake said, trying to smile.

Emma frowned, she had never seen him like this. “Jake, what is it?” she asked worried.

Jake sighed and finally really looked up at her. “Do I need to be worried that you’ll be leaving?” he asked point blanc.

“What?” Emma reacted bewildered. “No. Why would you think that?”

“Because the captain of the Camden Fire Company called me about you,” Jake told her.

_Oh shit…_

“That… shit,” Emma sighed and sat more upright. “Listen. Yes, I have been asking around. I’m thinking about moving in with Regina,” she explained. “But we are no way near there. I mean, I haven’t even officially met her kid and we’ve still got two more weeks to film the show. It’s just… thinking about the future,” she rambled on.

Jake nodded. “So, you and Regina. It’s serious?” he asked quietly.

A smile spread on Emma’s face when she thought about Regina. “Yes,” she said. “I really, really like her. Love her,” she added. A soft smile appeared on Jake’s face and he leaned back. “This is actually the first time you talk about moving in with someone,” he said. “She must be something special.”

“She is,” Emma smiled.

“Well, before I can approve of anything, I've got to meet her,” he then said, looking up at her seriously.

“What?” Emma frowned.

“As your firefighter father, I have to approve of her,” he continued. “And then the rest of your family here has to agree.” Emma blinked, not sure if he was pulling her leg. Then he smirked and stood up. “I’m kidding, Swan,” he laughed. “I’m happy for you.”

He pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her. “Uh, thanks,” Emma stammered. “You’re not mad?” she asked when he let her go.

Jake shrugged as he sat down on the edge of the desk. “I knew you would go one day,” he said. “And I’m only glad you’re doing it to share your life with someone,” he added sincerely.

“Thanks,” Emma smirked and walked to the door.

“Oh, but about meeting that special woman, I was serious,” he said before she left through the door.

Emma turned around with a smirk. “No worries,” she winked. “I can’t wait to introduce her.”

~~~

The night that Regina and Henry would Facetime with Emma had finally come and Regina was nervous. What if Henry didn’t like her after all? What if he wouldn’t be okay with them being together? He hadn’t asked her anything during the week, he had just gone on with his life, while Regina had been dying to talk about it. She hadn’t told him about what she and Emma had discussed and that Emma was thinking about moving to Camden.

“Mom!” Regina turned around startled, her hands still in the dishwasher. Henry held up her phone with a big smile. “Emma’s calling.”

Regina swore softly as she dried her hands and hurried over to Henry. She took over the phone and answered the phone call. The screen was a blur for a moment before Emma’s face appeared on the screen. Regina could immediately see she was nervous and Regina wished she would have a few minutes alone with Emma but she didn’t see that happening. Henry was standing next to her, he was as excited as a bouncy ball.

“Hey,” Regina greeted Emma with a smile.

 _“Hi,”_ Emma smiled back. _“Am I too early?”_ she asked.

Regina shook her head. “No, we just finished.”

 _“Good,”_ Emma smiled.

Regina took a deep breath, looked aside at Henry who nodded enthusiastically.

_Here goes nothing._

“Emma, I would like you to meet my son Henry,” Regina said as she adjusted the camera so she and Henry would be in the same shot.

Emma waved at him and smiled. _“Hi, Henry,”_ she said. _“I’m Emma.”_

“It’s so awesome I finally get to meet you,” Henry beamed. “Mom told me all about you,” he smirked.

 _“Only good things, I hope?”_ Emma asked, eyeing Regina nervously.

“Of course,” Henry nodded. “To be honest, she can’t stop talking about you,” he added.

Regina scowled at her son. “That is not true,” she defended herself.

 _“Oh, is that so?”_ Emma smirked, she visibly relaxed.

“No, it’s not,” Regina said again.

Henry chuckled. “She totally does. She keeps going like ‘Emma made that pie’ or ‘Emma did a grotesque showstopper’,” he told Emma.

Emma laughed and shook her head. _“Now you’re busted, Regina,”_ she smirked.

“I should have never introduced you,” Regina replied playfully. “But fine, yes, I do tell somethings about you,” she admitted with a blush.

“So, when do you think we can meet for real?” Henry asked.

 _“Not for a couple of weeks, I think,_ ” Emma replied thoughtfully. _“But hopefully soon. Your mom told me you made the baseball team?”_

“Yes, I did,” Henry beamed. “I’m on the bench for now, but I hope I'll get to play soon.”

 _“I used to play some ball when I was younger,”_ Emma told him. _“I had a foster brother who was on the high school team.”_

“You were in the foster system?” Henry asked curiously.

Regina saw Emma’s face darken and she quickly intervened. “Have you made progress on your showstopper?” she quickly asked.

Emma released a breath and nodded. _“I have. The shift today was quiet,”_ she said with a smile, but her voice soft.

Regina frowned. “You’re back to work already?” she asked.

 _“Yeah, my doctor cleared me two days ago,”_ Emma replied. _“Don’t worry, I’m on light duty for now,”_ she winked and focused back on Henry. _“If you want, I can help you train.”_

“That would be awesome. Mom is a terrible pitcher,” he groaned.

“I’ll help you train again,” Regina huffed quasi offended but sighed. “He’s right. I can’t throw a decent ball to save my life.”

Emma chuckled. _“I’m sorry,”_ she winked.

“It’s okay,” Henry shrugged. “She makes it up with all those things she bakes.” Suddenly, his phone went off and Henry glanced at it quickly. “I’ve got to take this,” he said and looked up at his mother. “It’s Trevor, we’re doing a project together,” he explained.

Regina nodded. “Of course.”

“I’ll see you soon!” Henry said as he waved and disappeared.

Regina settled at the kitchen island, the dishes completely forgotten. Emma looked so lost right now and Regina’s heart broke a little. Emma had never told her about her past and Regina imagined this probably wasn’t the way she had wanted to tell.

“Emma…” she started, but Emma interrupted her.

 _“It was my mistake,”_ she said. _“I let it slip. I’m sorry I never told you,”_ she added.

Regina shook her head. “No need to apologize,” she said. “I mean, we don’t know each other that long if you really look at it.”

Emma chuckled. _“This was not how I wanted to tell you,”_ she said. _“Can we talk about it this weekend?”_ she asked.

“Of course,” Regina said. “And if you don’t feel ready this weekend, I get that.”

 _“Thank you,”_ Emma smiled at her. _“Henry seems really sweet,”_ she said, her eyes softened.

Regina sighed and nodded. “He is if he isn’t pestering his mother,” she said.

Emma chuckled. _“It only shows how fond he is of you,”_ she said.

“And I of him.” Emma seemed to hesitate, biting down on her lip. “You can ask,” Regina encouraged her, already knowing what the next question was going to be.

 _“His father… Is he still in the picture?”_ Emma then asked.

“No. At least not with me,” Regina told her. “We split on somewhat good terms, but I made it clear I don’t want to see him. Henry sometimes goes to Boston to meet him there.”

 _“He lives in Boston?”_ Emma asked, her eyebrow raised.

Regina nodded. “I lived there for about ten years,” Regina told her. “It’s why I knew that little café across the airport,” she winked.

 _“Well, that explains it,”_ Emma chuckled. _“Wow, you’re full of surprises.”_

“Right back at ya,” Regina winked.

Emma nodded. _“I guess we have a lot of getting to know each other to do.”_

“We do,” Regina agreed.

Emma yawned loudly and stretched herself out. _“I’m not used to getting up so early anymore,”_ she groaned.

“Are you sure it’s safe to go back to work?” Regina questioned, eyeing Emma’s arms.

 _“It’s never safe,”_ Emma joked, but when she saw Regina’s worried eyes, she pulled a straight face. _“Sorry. Look, I know you're worried, but I’m very good at my job and I have my family to back me up.”_

“Then they didn’t do a good job the last time,” Regina remarked, she could still feel the anxiety lurking in the back of her mind from the last time.

Emma sighed. _“That wasn’t their fault. It all went too fast,”_ she explained. _“I’m the only one to blame in that. Regina,”_ she said and Regina looked up at her. _“I will be okay. I know what I’m doing.”_

Regina nodded and bit her lip while taking a deep breath. “I trust you,” she whispered.

Emma smiled softly. _“And I love you.”_

“I love you too.”

~~~

The week had flown by and Emma couldn’t wait until she could get off the plane and see Regina again. Regina had texted her while she had been in the air, telling her to listen to her heart. Emma knew what Regina meant, but she had made up her mind. She was going to tell Regina everything she wanted to know. She had talked about it with Lily and Lily had supported her. So Emma was ready to talk about the one thing she never talked about. Even Jake didn’t know everything. The line in front of her moved and soon Emma dashed through the airport. She walked through the exit and crossed the street. Through the window, she could see Regina and Ruby already sitting at their usual table. She smiled and entered the café.

“Hey Swan,” Ruby greeted her with a grin.

“Hey,” Emma smiled and sat down next to Regina.

Regina grabbed her hand that lay on the table. For now there was no need to be secretive. Emma saw Mulan crossing the street as well, they would be complete now. She checked her watch and saw Leroy wouldn’t arrive for another hour. Mulan came walking to their table just as Ruby jumped up.

“Hey,” Ruby smirked and pulled Mulan with her.

Regina turned to face Emma as soon as they were out of earshot. “How are you?” she asked, concerned.

Emma turned and smiled at her. “I’m good,” she replied. “How are you?” she asked.

“Good, now that I get see you,” Regina smirked and kissed Emma quickly.

“Smooth,” Emma grinned. “Hey, about what I said earlier this week? About me being in the foster system?”

“Yeah,” Regina nodded and Emma could feel her grow tenser.

“I want to tell you,” Emma said, her voice quivered. “I haven’t told anyone the whole story, only Lily knows, but that’s because she was there,” she added with a small smile.

“You don’t have to,” Regina urged.

“I want to,” Emma explained. “I want you to know every part of me. Just as I want to know every part of you, eventually,” she added, gazing into Regina’s eyes.

Regina blushed, but she didn’t look away. “I think my life is rather dull,” she chuckled.

“You’ve got a kid. I don’t think that’s dull,” Emma winked.

Regina smirked and relaxed. “Henry couldn’t stop talking about you,” she said as Mulan and Ruby returned with drinks.

“Oh really?” Emma chuckled. “That seems to run in the family.”

“Fuck you,” Regina huffed as she pulled the mug of hot chocolate and tea towards her.

“Right here? Kinky, but sure,” Emma grinned.

Regina sent her a tired glance and Emma chuckled as she wrapped her hands around the warm mug. She loved hot chocolate, she didn’t drink it enough. She glanced up and saw Ruby and Mulan were softly talking to each other and she smiled. They fitted well together.

“How funny is it that the four finalists have found love with each other while it’s actually strictly forbidden?” Regina chuckled next to her.

“I know right,” Emma agreed. “I bet they know by now.”

“Probably,” Regina nodded.

Before they knew it, Leroy arrived with the van and they all got up. Emma paid the bill and walked outside. She threw her bag in the back of the van and stepped into the van. She plopped down next to Regina and Regina immediately settled herself against Emma. Emma wrapped her arm around Regina’s waist, pulling her closer. Leroy started the van and they were off to the hotel…

~~~

Bright and early the next morning, Regina stifled a yawn as they waited for the filming to start. They were left with four contestants and it was pastry week. Back in the day, Regina did make pastries, as Henry’s father had loved them. She and Henry weren’t really fond of them but didn’t say no to them either. Henry had helped her to put together her signature challenge and tried to figure out what could be the technical challenge. Regina loved that he was so into it. Finally, the red lights above the cameras went on and Ariel, Killian, Astrid, and Robért entered the tent.

“Welcome back into the tent, bakers,” Killian smiled at them. “The competition gets tough now, there are only four of you left. This week promises to be a real treat as it’s pastry week,” he continued.

“For your signature challenge, Astrid wants you to make a tarte tartin. You can choose the flavoring, but it needs to be big enough for twelve people,” Ariel jumped in. “You will have 2 hours for this challenge.”

“On your marks,” Killian smiled.

“Get ready,” Ariel filled in.

“BAKE!” they both yelled.

Regina started to work immediately, two hours would be a tight squeeze for her, but it should work. She was planning on making a French-style apple tart, but she needed more than two hours for that. So she quickly switched to a simpler version of it, still with apple, but she changed a few ingredients to leek and goat cheese. It wasn’t as tasty, but it had to do. She started to make the mix for the dough and rolled it out. When she was done with that, she peeled the apples and started to assemble the pastry. Soon enough it was baking in the oven and she could take a few moments to take a breather. She glanced aside at Emma and saw she was making it with apples as well. Regina chuckled, Emma was starting to get a taste for apples. As she watched the blonde, Regina reminded herself how lucky she was to have Emma as a girlfriend. Yes, they both needed to learn a lot about each other, but Regina was confident that wouldn’t be much of a problem. She had to admit, she was curious about Emma’s story and her heart was already breaking knowing Emma was an orphan. Regina startled when the alarm of the oven went off and she went to check on the tart. It looked good and she took it out.

“Ten more minutes,” Killian called out.

Regina frowned, her tart really needed to cool down fast. She grabbed a piece of paper and started to wave as much as air as she could to the tart. Ariel saw her and jumped in with a piece of paper as well. Together they managed to cool it down.

“Will it be enough?” Ariel wondered.

Regina frowned. “Let’s hope so.”

“Good luck,” Ariel winked and walked off.

Regina watched her go, she liked the redhead. The filming was stopped and Regina was glad for it, it would mean her tart had more time to cool down now. They walked out of the tent and plopped down in the grass.

“One down, two to go,” Emma huffed as she hugged her knees.

“We can do this,” Ruby nodded. “Just need to get through the technical now.”

Regina nodded, mentally going through the recipes Henry had found and hoping it would be one of those. Emma leaned against her and Regina had to restrain herself from wrapping her arm around Emma’s waist. Even though the production crew probably had a suspicion about them, Regina didn’t want to give them an explicit reason to kick either of them out of the competition.

“You okay?” Regina asked quietly.

Emma nodded. “Just tired,” she replied. “It was an intense week,” she explained.

“I’m sorry,” Regina offered and squeezed her hand.

There was no way anyone apart from Ruby and Mulan could see that, as their hands were hidden from view from behind. Emma looked up and smiled at Regina.

“I can’t wait until I have you alone,” she said softly.

“Me neither,” Regina replied, restraining herself not to kiss Emma.

Nova showed up just in time, they were expected back in the tent. They stood up and followed the perky brunette into the tent. They got handed clean aprons and sat down on the stool behind their counter. The filming resumed and one by one, Robért and Astrid passed the counters, tasting the different tarts. Regina won this challenge, but Emma received a handshake from Robért. Filming was stopped again to prepare for the technical challenge. They walked back to the same spot where they'd sat before and sat down.

“It will be so hard to say goodbye tomorrow,” Emma moped and Regina frowned, Emma was in a really depressed mood today.

“I know right,” Ruby nodded.

“Emma, can you walk with me?” Regina asked as she stood up.

Emma looked up puzzled and nodded. “Sure,” she said as she stood up as well.

“Ruby, give me a call when they come for us?” Regina asked. “We won’t go far.”

“You got it, chief,” Ruby smirked and mock saluted her.

Regina grinned and walked off with Emma. They found a quiet spot to the side near the tree and Emma leaned against it.

“What’s bothering you?” Regina asked bluntly, she was worried.

Emma shrugged. “Just tired,” she said again. “I told you.”

Regina shook her head and stepped into Emma’s personal space, wrapping her arms around Emma’s waist. “There’s more,” she softly said.

Emma looked up, her eyes were filled with fear and sadness. “It’s just… I know I promised to tell you about my past, but…”

“Babe, you don’t have to tell me,” Regina interrupted, she had been scared this had been eating at Emma.

“But I want to,” Emma exploded. “I want to be able to talk about it without gliding into this pit of despair. I want you to know about that part of me,” she continued.

“I know and I get that,” Regina said. “But if you’re not ready…”

“If I haven’t gotten ready in 33 years, then I never will,” Emma deflated.

“Hey, these things take time and trust,” Regina said softly.

Emma looked up again, her eyes filled with unshed tears. “But that’s the thing, I trust you with my life,” Emma whispered.

Regina melted at that and kissed Emma. She knew it was a risk, but she didn’t care. Emma needed this and she would damned sure give it.

“Take your time,” Regina whispered.

Emma shook her head. “No more waiting,” she whispered. “I trust you.”

Regina’s phone buzzed and as she pulled it out of her pocket, she saw Ruby was calling. Regina declined it and sighed. For the first time ever since the competition started, she hated that they had to go back.

“We’ve got to go,” she sighed.

“I know,” Emma said and tried to smile at Regina. “I love you,” she said.

Regina smiled softly and kissed her again. “I love you too.”

They walked back to the tent, their hands barely touching.

“There you are!” Nova exclaimed. “Let’s go!”

Regina and Emma hurried into the tent. Emma looked much better, her eyes more alive and her posture straighter. Regina smiled, Emma just had won an internal battle. Regina didn’t need to know Emma’s past, the future was more important to her, but this was important for Emma. She got pulled out of her thoughts by Sidney, who signaled they were starting filming again. Killian, Ariel, Astrid, and Robért entered the tent and Regina took a deep breath.

“For the technical challenge, Astrid wants you to make a Moroccan pie using brick pastry. You will have to make twelve thin sheets of ‘walker’ pastry wrapped around a perfectly spiced filling to form a pie,” Ariel explained and Regina could see Ariel had never heard of it either.

Regina scratched her head, this was definitely not one of the recipes Henry had found.

“You will have an hour and 30 minutes for this challenge,” Ariel continued. “Astrid, do you have any wise words?” she asked, looking at the petite woman.

“Keep track of your ingredients,” Astrid smiled and Regina sighed, that said absolutely nothing.

“And with that, we’re kicking you out of the tent,” Killian winked and Robért and Astrid walked out of the tent.

“Bakers, on your marks, get ready, bake!” Ariel called.

Regina pulled the towel off and startled at the huge amount of ingredients. Astrid hadn’t been kidding. Regina glanced over at Emma and saw she was equally puzzled. Regina started reading the recipe and decided to just start. The recipe was short as always and she knew this would be a real challenge. She decided to take it piece by piece and see if she could build it up in the end. An hour and a half later and the Moroccan pie was somewhat ready. Regina was sure her pastry was undercooked, she didn’t like the color of it. She glanced around her and saw Mulan’s was way lower than everyone else’s. Mulan grimaced and shrugged. Regina smiled encouragingly at her.

The filming was ceased while the crew cleaned up and they walked out of the tent.

“I have never heard of this pie,” Mulan complained. “I completely blew it.”

“If it tastes good, you still have a chance,” Ruby tried to console her, but Mulan just shrugged.

Emma didn’t look too happy either. “Mine might be even worse than yours, Mulan,” she said. “I think it’s severely undercooked. That recipe was complete bullshit,” she went on.

“Agreed,” Regina nodded, she hadn’t had much help from the recipe either. “Mine is undercooked as well.”

“Let’s see who gets food poisoning first,” Ruby grinned.

“They won’t eat it if it’s undercooked,” Regina informed her, she had watched enough episodes of The Great Bake Off to know that.

“Hmmm,” Ruby grimaced.

Nova came to pick them up and the filming started again. They placed their pies behind their pictures and took place on the stools across the table. Robért and Astrid entered the tent and started to judge the pies. In the end, Ruby won this challenge, Mulan lost big time.

“I’m fucked,” Mulan announced as they were driving back to the hotel. “My signature wasn’t amazing either, so I might as well just pack my bags,” she sighed resigned.

“Hey, don’t give up yet,” Emma said. “You can still blow them away with your showstopper.”

“I kind of have to,” Mulan sighed and smiled at Emma. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” Emma said and hugged her friend. “You can do it.”

~~~

Emma paced restlessly through her room, waiting for Regina to show up. Regina had to call Henry after dinner and would come over after. Emma had texted Lily to tell her she would tell Regina everything, but that she felt so anxious. Lily hadn’t texted back and Emma assumed she was out on a call, as she was on shift this weekend. It was most unfortunate, Emma could do with some encouragement right now and Lily was the only one who knew the whole story. Emma had just settled on the bed to watch some tv to distract her mind when there was a soft knock on her door. Excitement and anxiety washed through Emma at the same time and she jumped off the bed to open the door for Regina. Regina stood waiting in the hallway, her duffel bag in her hand.

“Hi,” Emma smiled.

“Hey,” Regina smiled back and stepped inside.

Emma closed the door behind them and kissed Regina. “I missed you,” she sighed.

“I missed you too,” Regina replied, melting into Emma’s arms.

Emma led them to the bed and Regina settled down on it. Emma kept standing, gathering all the courage she had. She really wanted to tell Regina, but she was so scared. She didn’t even know what she was scared for, Regina wouldn’t reject her after this. Emma finally turned to face her girlfriend, who looked so kind and lovingly at her Emma almost started to sob, but managed to keep it together. She took a deep breath and leaned against the little desk that stood across the bed.

“I never knew my parents,” Emma started. “They gave me up right after I was born and they left no details about who they were. When I was younger I dreamed they were the king and queen of a faraway land and they gave me up because there was a war going on.” Regina chuckled at that and that seemed to lighten Emma up a bit. “Yeah, I know. I had a lot of imagination back then. Anyway, I went from one foster family to the next. I never managed to get adopted for real, there was always something. Either they got a kid of their own, or I wasn’t the daughter they imagined. I was rough when I was a kid, used to fighting for things I wanted to have. When I was about six, Lily ended up in the same group home as me and we hit it off right away. We were inseparable and if we weren’t placed in the same foster family, we would run away. And if we were, we’d run away together. At some point they gave up on placing us in foster families, we would run away every time. So, we grew up in a group home. I was fifteen when 9/11 happened, it was clearly visibly from our backyard. We’ve had dirt in the yard for years. Anyway, that’s when my obsession with firefighting started. I saw them going into the twin towers fearless and I wanted that. I wanted to save people who were in distress. Maybe because I felt helpless as a kid, I don’t know. I started hanging out at the firehouse after that and Jake, my captain, took me under his wing. The day I turned eighteen, I joined the academy and the rest is history,” Emma told her story without interruptions.

She chanced a look at Regina who had tears in her eyes. Regina reached out to Emma and Emma settled next to her. Regina wrapped her arms around the blonde protectively.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Have you ever tried to find them?” she asked.

Emma nodded. “Of course. Lily and I broke into the office of the head counselor when we were thirteen. My file is very flat, no information known about my parents. Nada, nothing, zilch,” Emma sighed. “When I was older I tried again at city hall, but there is just no record of them. The foster system had to get a birth certificate for me, they hadn’t even done that,” she explained and shook her head. “I keep telling myself they must have had damn good reason, but it does hurt not knowing.”

“I’m sorry,” Regina offered again.

“It’s okay,” Emma smiled. “At least I got to choose my own family, and lately it has gotten two new, very important members,” she smirked and kissed Regina.

Regina chuckled. “Charmer.”

Emma grinned and kissed Regina again, pushing her into the mattress. “Thank you for listening.”

“Of course,” Regina smiled and swiped some hair out of Emma’s face. “It was important to you.”

Emma nodded and yawned. “Do you mind going to bed already? I’m knackered.”

“Of course not,” Regina smiled. “I’m pretty exhausted too.”

They took a quick shower that involved a lot of kisses and cuddles before they slid under the covers. Emma settled herself in Regina’s safe arms, feeling lighter than ever before. She felt Regina drop a kiss to the top of her head and looked up.

“I love you,” she whispered, it seemed she couldn’t say it enough.

“I love you too,” Regina replied and kissed her again.

With a smile on her face, Emma drifted off to sleep…

~~~

The next day was bright and early and Regina was ready to shine with her showstopper. Henry helped her think up an impressive pie and she couldn’t wait to get started. The filming started and soon they all were busy making their vertical pie. The large base pie had to have decoratively shaped pastry vertically supporting two other pies. They had four hours for this monster and Regina only just managed to be done in time. She looked up when the filming was paused and she saw Mulan had outdone herself. She gave Mulan the thumbs up, who looked a bit more confident. They didn’t talk much during the wait, all of them were dreading the impending goodbye. Finally, they were called back in for the judgment of the showstoppers. Mulan ended as second, with Regina as the winner. Emma came in third, Ruby ended up last. Now Ruby started to get nervous, this could mean she had to go home. After a short break, they were called back into the tent.

“It gets harder and harder every week,” Astrid said as she looked at the four bakers in front of her. “Robért and I had a few heated discussions, but I think we made the right choice,” she added.

“I get to announce this week’s star baker and first finalist,” Ariel smiled as she stepped forward. “And that is the one with a mind-blowing showstopper and an almost perfect technical challenge. This week’s star baker is… Regina!”

Regina was pleasantly surprised and Emma stuck up her thumbs.

“That means I get to announce who we won’t see back,” Killian said. “The judges weren’t impressed with their technical challenge, they ended up last. We have to say goodbye, just before the finale, to Mulan.”

Mulan nodded, she had expected that. It also meant that Emma, Regina, and Ruby were all in the finale.


	11. Chapter 11

Emma wiped away the sweat from her brow, leaving a stripe of flower on her forehead. She was baking three dishes at once, trying to figure out her showstopper for the final. She had noticed it was harder to keep thinking about winning, as she thought both Regina and Ruby earned it as well. It was harder now that she was dating Regina and had become close friends with Ruby. But she knew they would give it their all, so she should too. She glanced at the sketch she'd made for her showstopper, this surely would impress the judges. It was Tuesday already and Emma felt she was already behind on things. To top it all off, she had barely spoken to Regina. Emma had had a late shift on Monday, preventing her from talking with Regina in the evening. Regina had let her know she had a town hall meeting the coming evening and she had no idea at what time she would be done. Emma had been bummed about it, but she had understood.

“Hey!”

Emma looked up and saw Lily was leaning on the counter. Emma smiled, she was glad to see her friend. Lily had been off duty the previous night as she had worked the weekend, but it looked like she was on shift again today.

“Hey,” Emma grinned. “Missed me?”

“Like a toothache,” Lily teased and glanced at what Emma was doing. “How is it going?” she asked.

“A disaster,” Emma sighed. “I’m not sure if I can do this.”

“Of course you can,” Lily said. “You didn’t come this far if they didn’t deem you capable.”

Emma shrugged. “Maybe,” she sighed and pulled a freshly baked bread out of the oven.

“How did your talk with Regina go?” Lily asked. “I’m sorry I couldn’t reply.”

“No worries,” Emma waved away. “It went well. She was very understanding.”

“Of course she was,” Lily smiled. “I think you hit the jackpot with her,” she winked as she pulled the freshly baked bread towards her. She wanted to pull a bit off of it but pulled her hand back quickly. “Ouch, that’s hot,” she complained as she sucked on her fingers.

“What else did you expect?” Emma laughed. “I pulled this out of the oven seconds ago.”

“I don’t know,” Lily pouted. “It just smells so good.”

Emma chuckled and pulled the bread back. “You’re going to have to wait. I want to assemble my showstopper today, preferably with all my dishes intact.”

“Party pooper,” Lily pouted again and watched as Emma slid in the pastry in the oven. “How are you and Regina going to do it after all of this is over?” she asked, her voice serious.

“We don’t really know yet.” Emma sighed and looked up at her friend. She hadn’t expected to have this conversation already. “We both have our work, but it’s a bit harder for Regina to pack up and just leave,” she said.

“Unlike you,” Lily said slowly. “Does this mean you’re leaving?” she asked softly.

“Maybe,” Emma replied and it hurt her to see the hurt and betrayal in Lily’s eyes. She put down the knife she was holding and walked over to her friend. “Hey, it doesn’t mean I’m going to disappear out of your life. You’re still my sister.”

Lily looked up, trying to smile. “I know,” she said. “And I knew this would happen someday, but now that it’s actually here, I don’t like it.”

“I’m not gone yet,” Emma told her. “We’re not there yet.”

Lily took a deep breath and hugged Emma. “I know. And if you go, I’m not stopping you. I can see Regina makes you happy and you deserve a family of your own,” she said.

“I already have a family,” Emma smiled. “It’s just expanding.”

Lily smiled and nodded. “I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you,” Emma replied.

“We will have a custody battle though,” Lily suddenly said as she let go of Emma.

Emma frowned. “Oh?”

“We’re going to have to figure out what to do about Cheese,” Lily said, still dead serious.

“He’s coming with me,” Emma said. “I rescued him.”

“That may be,” Lily started thoughtfully. “But I took care of him too. And he likes to be here.”

“Who says he doesn’t like it over at Regina’s? He will have a play buddy in Henry,” Emma protested.

Lily shook her head thoughtfully. “I’m not sure,” Lily smirked. “We might need to take this to court.”

“Fuck you,” Emma laughed and threw a towel at Lily’s head.

Lily ducked away laughing. “I’m just saying, you’re ripping him away from his family,” she laughed.

“Out!” Emma exclaimed. “Out of my kitchen.”

Lily laughed and stepped back. Cheese had been following the banter ever since his name had fallen and he barked when Lily stepped away.

“See? He agrees with me,” Lily chuckled as Cheese stood up and walked over to her.

“Traitor,” Emma told Cheese, but shook her head with laughter.

Lily and Cheese disappeared from of the kitchen and Emma watched them go with a smile on her face. Lily did have a point, Cheese would have to get used to a bunch of new people. Yet Emma couldn’t bear it to just leave him here…

~~~

The weather was getting warmer and Regina strolled past the harbor after her town hall meeting. It had been exhausting and she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Emma. She had a foreboding feeling they wouldn’t be talking much this week, both caught up in work and preparations for the final. Regina sighed, there had been something else bothering her. Now that it looked like she and Emma were getting serious and Emma might even move here, she needed to tell Zelena. She just had no idea how to do that. It had already been so hard with Henry and he was practically still a kid. Her phone buzzed and Regina immediately pulled it out of her pocket, hoping it was Emma.

_**Zelena:** How did the meeting go? Fancy a glass of wine to unwind?_

Regina chuckled, whenever Zelena sent things like this, she wanted to talk. And seeing as she hadn’t had any plans and didn’t want to go home to an empty house yet, Regina accepted the invitation. She changed directions and walked to Zelena’s house. Zelena was already waiting for her and opened the door as soon as Regina walked up the driveway.

“I thought you might want some alcohol after such a meeting,” Zelena winked.

“You know me too well,” Regina chuckled.

She walked into Zelena’s house, a charming wooden cabin Robin had made with his bare hands. Regina had to admit, he had style and the house he built felt really homey and warm. She didn’t doubt Zelena had something to do with it as well. Zelena led Regina to the study where a fire was ablaze and two lazy chairs were waiting for them. Regina slipped out of her coat and sat down in one of the chairs, relaxing into the soft cushions. Zelena soon returned with a glass of red wine for Regina and water for herself. Regina frowned as she saw it and looked up at her sister.

“Since when do you pass on alcohol?” she asked curiously; an idea on why was already dawning on her.

Zelena laughed nervously as she sat down as well, keeping her back straight and sitting on the edge of the seat. “Well, that’s kind of why I asked you to come,” she smiled. “I'm pregnant.”

Regina’s mouth split into a huge smile as she launched herself at Zelena. “That is amazing news!” she exclaimed. “Congratulations!”

“Thank you,” Zelena beamed and rubbed her belly. “It’s only two months, but I couldn’t wait to tell you,” she added.

“It’s really great,” Regina beamed. “Does little Robin know yet?” she asked curiously.

Zelena nodded. “We told her last weekend. I don’t know if she really understood, but she was over the moon.”

“Good,” Regina smiled and sat back in the chair. She picked up the glass of wine and looked at how happy her sister looked. She looked back at her wine, rolling it around in the glass and contemplating if she should wait to tell Zelena.

“What’s on your mind, sis?” Zelena asked and Regina sighed as she looked up, her sister knew her too well.

“There is something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” Regina started, still not sure if she should do this.

“Are you finally going to tell me who your secret lover is?” Zelena teased her.

Regina chuckled and nodded. “It’s only a bit different than you think,” she said. “My ‘secret’ lover… Fuck,” she swore softly.

“Is he married?” Zelena tried to guess, worry written on her face.

Regina shook her head sharply, why was this so hard?

“It’s a woman,” she blurted out.

She didn’t dare to look up at her sister, scared of what she would see. They never had discussed these things, both were pretty convinced they were straight. It was just something neither of them had to think about. But Regina had to do that now, as she loved Emma very much and wanted, no, needed Zelena to be okay with that. To welcome Emma into their family.

“Wow,” Zelena breathed finally. “I did not see that one coming.”

“I know,” Regina murmured.

“How… But, you’ve been with men your whole life,” Zelena contemplated, looking at her sister.

“I know,” Regina repeated and finally looked up. “But… it never lasted long, did it? I always found myself bored and just thought I hadn’t found the right guy. And then I met Emma. She’s nothing like I've ever seen and… I fell for her, hard. And every day I’m thanking my lucky stars she fell for me too,” Regina tried to explain. “It doesn’t mean I’m strictly a lesbian, I’m still trying to figure out where I belong in this picture. I just know that I love Emma.”

“Wow,” Zelena said again. “I… you have me flabbergasted,” she chuckled.

“Sorry,” Regina offered, feeling slightly guilty.

“I don’t know what to make of this, to be honest,” Zelena finally said. “But the most important thing here is if she makes you happy.”

A broad smile appeared on Regina’s face. “She does. She definitely does,” she said.

“That’s the only thing that matters,” Zelena said softly. “But to be honest, I need some time to process this,” she added with a small chuckle.

“No worries, I get that,” Regina smiled. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Zelena asked surprised.

“For not kicking me out of the house,” Regina chuckled.

“Now, why would I do that?” Zelena asked incredulously.

Regina shrugged. “You don’t want to know how many horror stories I read about this.”

“You’re still my sister. That doesn’t change,” Zelena stated firmly.

Regina smiled at her sister and once again stood up to hug her. She was so glad Zelena was taking this so well, she couldn’t bear to be into a fight over this with her sister…

~~~

The week had flown by and before she could comprehend it, Emma found herself at the airport in Boston. Work had been busier than ever and Emma had barely had time to properly prepare. So when she walked through the airport for probably the last time, anxiety was racing through her body. The only thing that seemed to ground her was the thought of seeing Regina again. They had barely spoken last week, both busy with preparations and work. They had managed to talk a bit on Thursday, Henry had joined them. Emma really liked him, Regina had done a great job raising him. Regina had told her she told Zelena, her sister, about them and Emma could tell Regina was relieved.  
Emma exited the airport and the warm wind embraced her as she crossed the road. It promised to be a warm weekend and Emma cursed at it. They were bound to work with some kind of ingredient that would melt in the heat, she could just feel it in her gut. As she entered the café, she spotted Regina and Ruby already settled at their usual table.

“Hey!” Ruby greeted her and gave her a brief hug.

“Hi,” Emma smiled and sat down next to Regina.

Regina pulled her into her arms almost immediately and Emma sunk into the hug. Only when Ruby cleared her throat did they let go of each other.

“Sorry,” Regina said sheepishly.

Ruby shook her head. “Don’t be,” she said. “I get it.”

“Thanks, Rubes,” Regina said sincerely and smiled at her.

“This is all so crazy,” Emma said, shaking her head. “In 72 hours all of this is over and we'll know who the winner is.”

“I’d rather not think about that,” Ruby groaned. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

Regina almost choked on her drink and Emma frowned at that. “You okay?” she asked concerned.

“Uh-huh,” Regina nodded, glaring up at Ruby, who just grinned.

“What am I missing here?” Emma asked curiously.

“Nothing,” Ruby chuckled. “Hot cocoa?” she asked as she stood up.

“Yes, please,” Emma nodded and glanced at Regina. “What am I missing?” she asked again.

“I’ll explain later,” Regina promised her and took a deep breath. “I’m glad to see you,” she said, diverting the subject.

“Me too,” Emma smiled and kissed Regina deeply.

Regina kissed her back and Emma had to keep in mind they were in a public place but she was ready to jump Regina’s bones right there and then. Regina seemed to be thinking the same, as she was practically crawling into Emma.

“Keep it in your pants until we’re at the hotel, please,” Ruby suddenly said and Emma and Regina broke their kiss.

“Oops,” Regina blushed and grabbed her tea. “Sorry.”

Ruby just smirked and shook her head. “To be honest, I would do the same if I was in your position,” she said honestly.

“Have you seen Mulan in the meantime?” Emma asked.

Ruby shook her head. “Not yet. I’ll be seeing her next week, I’m taking the plane to New York on Sunday,” she said, a smile appeared on her face.

“Oh, then we’re going to have the same flight,” Emma said enthusiastically.

“Cool,” Ruby grinned.

Emma didn’t see the jealous glare Regina sent Ruby’s way. Ruby did see it however and her grin grew. She quickly dove into her coffee before Emma could see it, Regina would murder her. Leroy soon showed up and when they were all loaded in, he drove them to the hotel for the very last time…

~~~

The tension was high in the tent the next morning. Even though Regina did think both Emma and Ruby deserved to be the winner, she did want to win as well. It was a strange feeling, as she cared deeply about both of them. Last week she had met up with Ruby, who looked like to be in a bit of a slump. She had texted Regina in the middle of the night that she was struggling and Regina had taken her for breakfast the next morning. Ruby had admitted that she had a hard time dealing with the prospect of not seeing Mulan the next weekend and it was weighing down on her creativity. They had talked for hours and by the end of it, Ruby had set up a plan. Regina of course hadn’t seen anything, she didn’t want that. After that morning, they regularly had breakfast or a cup of coffee in the afternoon. Regina had really started to appreciate Ruby’s presence and she had confided in Ruby that she feared the moment she wouldn’t be seeing Emma every weekend. Ruby had agreed, it was what was bothering her so much now. On their way to Boston, Ruby had told her she would go see Mulan straight after the final and would be staying with Mulan for a week. Regina had been happy for her, but also slightly jealous. She wished she had the freedom to just pack her stuff and be with Emma for a week. She sighed, she shouldn’t think like that. They would work it out. Sidney pulled her out of her thoughts as he counted down to one and the camera’s started rolling.

“Welcome, bakers, to the final!” Ariel announced happily. “This week your knowledge will be tested severely and we expect nothing more than excellence from you,” she added.

“For the signature challenge, Robért wants you to make the ultimate chocolate cake. It needs to be creative, impressive, and beautifully decorated,” Killian said as he stepped forward. “You will have two hours for this masterpiece, so let’s crack on!”

Regina immediately started to make the batter for the cake, it needed to proof for a bit. When she was done with that, she started to melt the chocolate she needed. She was planning on making it with three different chocolate flavors, dark, milk, and hazelnut. The batter would also be with a hint of chocolate, she had added little pieces of chocolate in it. She didn’t want to overdo it, so the filling would be a strawberry mousse. Her batter was soon done and she put it in the baking tin and shoved it in the oven. She set the timer and set to work on her decorations. She wanted to pipe it up with white chocolate and put a single strawberry on the top. The two hours passed in the blink of an eye and soon Regina was putting the strawberry on the top just as Ariel called time. Regina breathed out a sigh in relief as she walked out of the tent.

“Well, that wasn’t as big a disaster as it was earlier this week,” Ruby chuckled as she grabbed a cup of coffee.

“Agreed,” Emma chuckled. “My captain even asked if he needed to call chemical waste.”

Ruby whistled impressed. “That bad, huh?”

Emma nodded as she leaned against one of the trailers. “We’ll see what they think about it,” she said. “How did you do, ‘Gina?” she asked.

“Not bad,” Regina nodded. “Hope it’s not too overwhelming,” she said.

“It looked gorgeous,” Ruby offered.

“Thanks,” Regina smiled.

They were called back into the tent, their cakes were placed at the end of the counter. Regina sat down on the stool and waited for the filming to start. Soon the lights blinked on and the judges came walking back in. They judged the cakes one by one carefully and in the end, Emma won the challenge. Regina was happy for her and hugged her when they were sitting on the grass.

“I need to text Jake and let him know the ‘chemical waste’ has just won the challenge,” Emma grinned smugly.

“Are you allowed to do that?” Ruby frowned.

“Like I care,” Emma chuckled and quickly shot a text to Jake.

Regina shook her head. “Little rebel,” she smirked.

Emma just smirked back and leaned against the trunk of the tree. “This feels so weird,” she sighed.

“Agreed,” Ruby nodded.

Regina only nodded, she could already feel the sinking feeling in her stomach at the thought of their last bake tomorrow. She glanced over at Emma and she could see the blonde was thinking the same. Emma reached over and squeezed her hand softly.

They looked up when Nova came to get them for the technical challenge and Regina felt the anxiety race through her body as she entered the tent. She walked to her counter and waited for the filming to resume. Ariel, Killian, Robért, and Astrid entered the tent again.

“For the technical challenge we have a real treat for you,” Killian started. “This one comes from both Astrid and Robért, they want you to make six twice-baked Stilton soufflés. These need to hold their shape when turned out of their molds, whilst remaining delicate and fluffy in texture served with biscuits on the side,” he explained and Regina whistled, this sounded like a hard one. “You will have an hour for this.”

“Bakers, on your marks, get ready, bake!” Ariel called with a smile.

Regina pulled off the towel from the ingredients and quickly read the instructions. An hour wasn’t much and she needed to nail this. She quickly set to work and at the end of the hour, she had managed to make a somewhat decent soufflé. Behind her, Ruby was looking rather desperate. Her soufflés had ended up in a soup and there was no way she could repair it. As they walked out of the tent, Emma tried to console her, but Ruby already knew she wouldn’t be the winner after this.

“It’s okay,” she sniffled. “Really. You two really earned it.”

“That’s not true,” Regina said. “You’re an excellent baker.”

“But not at making soufflés,” Ruby hiccupped.

Regina sighed and resigned to giving Ruby a big hug. “It’s not over yet,” she said.

Ruby shrugged. “Maybe.”

Nova came to get them once more and they walked back to the tent. The filming started up again and they brought their soufflés to the table to be judged. Robért and Astrid came walking in and they started judging. They didn’t even taste Ruby’s soufflés and it wasn’t a surprise Ruby came in third. Emma came in second, hers were a bit overcooked. Regina won this challenge and she could feel the tension rising again as they left the tent again.

~~~

Emma lay in bed with Regina curled up in her arms. Emma was playing with Regina’s hair mindlessly as she flipped through her notebook. They were both preparing for their showstopper but had decided it didn’t really matter anymore if the other saw it. Regina had even given Emma some pointers and Emma had praised Regina’s design. They knew they could trust each other.

“So, are you on shift next weekend?” Regina suddenly asked as she closed her notebook and looked up at Emma.

“Uh, let me check,” Emma said and she reached over to her backpack to pull out her diary. She leafed through it and nodded. “I start Friday at 8 a.m. until the next morning. After that, I’m on call on Monday again. Why?”

“I thought that maybe Henry and I could come over,” Regina smiled.

Emma smiled broadly. “I would love that,” she said.

“It’s a date then,” Regina winked and kissed Emma.

Emma pulled her closer and kissed her deeper. Regina responded by pushing Emma against the mattress and only broke the kiss when they needed to come up for air.

“I’m so glad Lily signed me up for this,” Emma breathed.

Regina chuckled. “I’m glad Zelena did too. Did you know she almost signed me up for The First Date?”

“No way!” Emma laughed. “That would have been fun.”

“Or not,” Regina chuckled. “I’m just glad I ended up here.”

“Me too.”

Emma pulled her back into the kiss, she couldn’t get enough of Regina it seemed. Regina agreed with her and they both were breathless at the end of their make-out session.

“Shower?” Regina suggested.

Emma nodded and followed Regina into the shower…

~~~

It was bright and early the next morning and already warm in the tent. Regina could feel she was already sweating off her makeup. She tried to stay focused as she waited for Sidney to give the signal that they would start filming. She dared a glance at Emma who looked just as focused. Ruby looked a bit more anxious and Regina felt for her. At least she could be with Emma last night. She felt that really helped, it grounded her. Finally, Sidney started the countdown and Ariel, Killian, Astrid, and Robért entered the tent. Regina’s focus snapped to them and she couldn’t wait until she could start baking.

“Welcome to the last ever challenge of this year,” Ariel smiled. “Before we start, I want to take this moment to tell you all how much of a delight it was to see you all make the most amazing creations. I’ve enjoyed myself thoroughly these past weeks. You’re all a winner to me,” she said, still smiling.

“I agree,” Killian added. “I loved to see how you all, despite all the sweating, swearing, and failing, came to this point. You all did an amazing and marvelous job!” he beamed. “But now, down to business. Robért and Astrid want you to make a deliciously deceptive feast in the form of a picnic basket. It must contain some form of cake, bread, and biscuit in it,” he finally explained. “You will have five hours for this challenge. And remember, at the end, we will announce the winner in the presence of your family and friends,” he added.

Regina smiled, she couldn’t wait to see Henry and Zelena and introduce them properly to Emma. Zelena had been asking about Emma, texting Regina relentlessly. She wanted to know everything and Regina had been amused by it. She was glad Zelena clearly had made peace with it. She started to make the bread first, it needed to be in the oven the longest. She prepared the dough and slid it into the proofing cabinet. Next, she started making the batter for the biscuits, those needed to bake along with the bread. When she was finished with that, she slid both batches into the oven. She started making the batter for the cake, that would go in the oven last. When that was done and in the oven, she started to prepare the different decorations she had in mind.

“Cut!” Sidney suddenly yelled just when Regina pulled out the bread, biscuits, and cake. She looked around curiously to see who had fucked up, Sidney would only stop if anyone fucked up badly. But as far as she could see, everyone was doing splendidly.

She watched Sidney step into the tent and whisper something to Robért and Astrid, who both suddenly looked serious and nodded.

“Emma, we need you here,” Sidney said as he looked at Emma.

Emma startled and looked confused as she followed Sidney. Regina could just see her and saw she was talking with a tall brunette Regina hadn’t seen before. Their conversation was short but urgent. Regina could feel that this wasn’t good. Emma nodded in the end, spoke briefly to Sidney, and left the tent with the brunette. Regina watched her go, the surprise and curiosity grew. Sidney stepped back into the tent.

“Emma has been called back to New York,” he told them. “There has been a terrorist attack on Times Square and the fire department called her in.”

Regina gasped and quickly took out her phone. She already had received numerous notifications, this looked like a very big thing.

“So, now what?” Regina asked, looking up at Sidney.

Sidney looked back at the judges and took a deep breath. “We continue without Emma,” he told them.

“What? No!” Ruby exclaimed. “That is not fair!”

Sidney raised his hands in defense. “I know, but the executive producers demand it,” he said.

“Can’t we just shoot the last bit next weekend?” Regina asked.

Sidney shook his head. “Then we would have to delay broadcasting too much,” he tried to explain. “There is simply no room to do that,” he added.

“This is bullshit,” Regina said.

“Take it up with the bosses,” Sidney said and he walked back.

Sidney counted down and the filming started up again. Killian stepped up to the camera, sneaking quickly at a note in his hand.

“Due to unforeseen events, Emma had to step out of the competition,” he told the camera. “We will continue the last challenge with only Regina and Ruby,” he continued.

Regina shook her head, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand. She would worry about Emma later, now she just wanted to win for Emma. As if in a dream, she finished making her picnic basket. She felt numb afterwards as she walked out of the tent towards Henry and Zelena. Zelena saw her first and rushed over to her. Without saying a word, she wrapped Regina into a bear hug and Regina finally let the worries in. She started crying, she hated not knowing what was going on with Emma. Henry hugged her after that and they sat down at the picnic cloth.

“How bad is it?” she asked, drying her eyes.

Henry swallowed thickly as he handed her his phone. Regina skimmed the live blog. It appeared multiple suicide bombers had taken over Times Square. Three bombs already had gone off with lots of injured and deaths. There were suspicions that there were more bombers spread throughout New York. The live blog mentioned that several buildings had collapsed and were on fire. Regina swallowed thickly and handed Henry back his phone. Nova came over to her, asking for a small interview. Regina nodded and followed her. She did the interview on automatic pilot, she wasn’t really there. She returned back to Zelena and Ruby, already not remembering what she had said during the interview. After what seemed hours, Robért and Astrid finally appeared on top of the hill. Killian and Ariel hurried over to them. Regina and Ruby were called forward to hear the end result.

“We’ve had a marvelous and spectacular season,” Astrid started off. “We have seen an enormous amount of cakes, pies, biscuits, soufflés, caramel, chocolate, bread, and a lot of other things. And now we are left with these two contestants, both in the running for the winner of The Great Bake Off 2020. Shall we no longer keep you in suspension?” Astrid smiled and Regina felt herself nodding.

“The winner of The Great Bake Off has us surprised with daring bakings and showed she isn’t scared of taking risks. I’m glad to announce that our winner is…. Regina Mills!”

Regina felt a sour taste in her mouth as she stepped forward to accept the price. She put on a fake smile as she stood next to Robért and Astrid. She got pulled away for her celebratory speech and after she was done, she pulled Ruby to the sight.

“This prize doesn’t belong to me,” she started. “I saw Emma’s showstopper and she would have knocked me out of the park.”

“Agreed,” Ruby nodded. “What do you want to do?” she asked.

Regina looked at the prize and suddenly had an idea. “Come with me,” she said and pulled Ruby with her. They soon found Robért and Astrid talking to Tink and Peter. “Can we have a minute?” Regina asked urgently.

“Of course,” Astrid nodded.

They walked to the sides and Regina looked them in the eyes. “This prize shouldn’t have gone to me,” she said. “If Emma could have finished her showstopper, she would have knocked me out of the park.”

“But Emma didn’t,” Robért reminded her.

“I know, but that wasn’t her fault,” Regina replied, she wasn’t scared of Robért.

“She has a point, Robért,” Astrid mused. “What do you have in mind?” she asked Regina.

“Well…” Regina started and explained her plan.

~~~

It was a week after the terrorist attack and Emma had just been released from the hospital. She had been 5 feet away from the fifth bomber when he went off. Emma had been hit full force and she had woken up buried underneath a lot of concrete. But she had been alive and three hours later her colleagues had found her. She had a broken clavicle, a broken leg and a crushed knee. Her doctor hadn’t been sure if she would ever be able to go back to fire fighting. It had crushed Emma. Jake had sent her to a psychologist, but she struggled to connect with them. The only one she could really talk to was Regina. Regina had come straight to her after she had been brought to the hospital. Emma had been so happy to see her and she had cried for the first time that night. Regina had climbed into bed next to her and had held her until she had fallen asleep. A nurse had found them like that the next morning. Regina hadn’t left her side after that until she really needed to go back to her duties as mayor.

“Hey, Emma!”

Emma looked up and saw Lily waving at her from the exit of the hospital. Emma had asked the nurse to push her in her wheelchair to the exit so she could wait for her ride home.

“Hey,” Emma smiled and carefully hugged her friend.

“Ready to go?” Lily asked and Emma nodded.

Lily helped her into the car, brought back the wheelchair, and stepped into the driver’s seat.

“Thank you for picking me up,” Emma smiled at her friend.

“Don’t mention it,” Lily smiled and drove off.

She drove through the city, while talking about how Emma was missed at the firehouse. Emma smiled, but it hurt to hear it. She knew the probability of her returning was very slim. She had told Lily as much, but Lily kept looking at it positively.

“Hey, you missed the turn,” Emma said as Lily kept driving straight when she should have turned left.

“No, I didn't,” Lily said cheerfully.

Emma frowned but refrained from saying anything. Lily parked the car and Emma saw they were at the firehouse. She sighed and shook her head.

“Look, I know you're convinced I’m going back, but this isn’t helping,” Emma told her, she just wanted to go home.

“You have visitors waiting for you,” Lily deadpanned and got out of the car.

Emma frowned at that. Why hadn’t they come to the hospital or her house? Why at the bloody firehouse of all places? Lily opened her door and helped Emma into the borrowed wheelchair. She drove Emma into the firehouse and the first thing Emma spotted was Robért and Astrid waiting for her in between the fire trucks. They were accompanied by a couple of cameras.

“What..?” she started, but then she spotted Ruby and Regina as well.

Ariel and Killian stepped up as well, all were smiling at Emma.

“We are here because the winner of The Great Bake Off 2020 felt like you deserved to win,” Astrid started. Emma glanced at Regina, she knew Regina had officially won. “And we as judges agreed. You were well on your way to winning and you would certainly have if you hadn’t been called away. So, now we still want to crown you as the official winner of The Great Bake Off 2020,” Astrid beamed.

Emma opened and closed her mouth, but she was simply speechless. Regina stepped forward and handed her the price. “You earned it,” she said as she carefully hugged Emma.

“Thank you,” Emma finally whispered, she felt overwhelmed with all of it.

She hadn’t expected any of this, The Great Bake Off more felt like a distant memory. Yet here she was, holding the price of a competition she didn’t want to enter at first. But it had brought her so much more than just a prize, she had found the love of her life. She looked up at Regina and started crying…


	12. Chapter 12

Epilogue  
Whistling, Emma walked down Main Street in Camden. She had moved in with Regina about three months after the accident. Her knee had been completely smashed to smithereens and she’d had the devastating news that she would never be a firefighter again. It had thrown her into a deep dark pit until Regina one day had shown up at her doorstep and asked Emma to move in with her. It had been then that their little idea had started to grow. Emma at first had refused to accept Regina’s prize money from ‘The Great Bake Off’, but Regina had come up with an idea. Her run as mayor would end in three years and up until now, Regina had had no idea what she had wanted to do. Now that Emma needed to look for a different job, Regina had proposed the idea of opening up a bakery together. Emma at first had been against it, she still had her goal set on going back to the firehouse. But when even Jake had told her it was impossible, Emma had taken the first flight to Regina and they had talked into the wee hours of the night. The next morning, Emma had gone building shopping and had found the cutest little shop right at the corner of Main Street. Regina had told her there was a dinner in town that also sold baked goods, but she was convinced they would be making a profit. Emma had stopped by said dinner to see what they sold and that’s when something rather surprising happened. Emma walked into the cozy-looking dinner. It had a classic old American style, with red and white tiles, red booths, red stools at the bar, a white bar and white tables. Emma smiled, she liked it. She walked over to the vitrine to see what baked goods were displayed and she was pleased to see it wasn’t very elaborate. There were your standard baked bread, eclairs in different colors, cinnamon buns, and…

_“Emma!” Emma looked up surprised at the familiar voice and a red streak flew towards her. “You’re up and about! Regina told us you were feeling better, but to see you! Oh my god, I’m so glad to see you!”_

_Overwhelmed, Emma hugged the enthusiastic brunette back, although she was at a loss about what the brunette was doing here. Finally, Emma managed to get some space between them and looked up at the beaming woman in front of her._

_“Ruby?” she frowned as she gripped her cane tightly to keep her balance. “What are you doing here?”_

_“I live here,” Ruby grinned. “And when I’m not working at the fire department, I help Granny out.”_

_Emma’s eyes glanced at the older woman behind the counter, waving at her with a warm smile. Emma could see the resemblance as she returned the smile warily and waved back before focussing on Ruby again._

_“Sorry, what?” she asked confused._

_Ruby grinned. “I see Regina hasn’t told you yet. We live in the same city. And yes, we knew each other before the competition.”_

_“Holy shit,” Emma breathed. “Why haven’t any of you told me?”_

_Ruby shrugged. “Regina was scared it would hurt our chances.”_

_“But the competition is over,” Emma protested. “You guys could have told me.”_

_Ruby grimaced. “You were a bit preoccupied,” she said._

_Emma looked down at her knee wrapped up in a tight brace and the cane in her hand. “Fair enough,” she chuckled._

_“So, what are you doing here?” Ruby asked curiously as she guided Emma to an empty booth._

_“Scooping out the competition,” Emma grinned, looking up at her friend._

_“Sorry, what now?” Ruby blinked._

_“Regina and I are going to open up our own bakery down the road,” Emma told her friend._

_“That is amazing!” Ruby exclaimed. “But maybe don’t mention it to my gran yet,” she smirked._

_Emma beamed, she had a feeling she would fit right in here._

She had been right. Ruby and Granny had welcomed her with open arms, as did the other residents of Camden. She and Regina had bought the building and opened the shop four months later. The shop had been running for almost six months now and it was starting to get profitable. They weren’t out of the red yet, but it was definitely looking up. Emma leaned the cane against the wall as she unlocked the door. Her knee was still a mess and she was scheduled for the next surgery in a couple of months. Emma had given up hope of ever losing the cane, but the next surgery would help with the pain. She turned off the alarm, walked through the shop, turning on the lights, and made her way to the kitchen. She glanced at the clock, she needed to hurry and started making batter to make freshly baked apple pies. She washed her hands and started making the batter. She expected Violet any minute now. When Emma had asked around for help in the shop, Violet immediately had signed up, along with young Grace and Roland. Emma had been glad for the help, especially since she and Regina had been thinking about expanding their family. The bell of the shop rang and Emma grabbed her cane to limp over to the opening over the kitchen while calling out.

“We’re not open yet,” she said as she rounded the corner into the shop.

“Oh, but we’re not costumers,” Regina replied and Emma smiled at the sight. Regina stood smiling before her, pushing a pram in front of her. “We came to wish mummy good luck on her first day back at work.”

Emma walked over to Regina, kissed her as if they hadn’t kissed half an hour before, and she glanced into the pram. A sleeping girl lay in it and Emma immediately melted.

“Thank you,” she said to Regina.

“I know you had trouble saying goodbye this morning,” Regina replied lovingly.

Emma chuckled and nodded. It was hard saying goodbye, even if it was for only a couple of hours, to the little creature she had carried with her for nine months. It had been a mutual decision that Emma would carry the baby and they were lucky they had found a donor fairly quickly. Regina had arranged that she would adopt the baby as soon as it was born and Emma was still working on adopting Henry so they would form a proper family. As soon as everything was finalized, they would throw the biggest wedding party the town has ever seen.

“How has she been doing?” Emma asked as she softly caressed the little fingers.

“You’ve been gone for 30 minutes,” Regina replied dryly. “But Hope has been sleeping all that time.”

“Good,” Emma smiled and looked up at her soon to be wife. “Thank you for taking the day off,” she said softly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Regina said as she looked down at the little bundle of joy. “I love spending time with her.”

“I know,” Emma said as she leaned against Regina while glancing into the pram.

“Will you be okay?” Regina asked softly.

“I will be now,” Emma smiled as she looked up at Regina and kissed her.

The oven beeped at the same time as Violet stepped inside. She glanced over at the happy couple and she smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” she winked at Emma and dashed into the kitchen.

“Thank you!” Emma called after her and looked back up at Regina, kissing her. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Regina left after ten more minutes and Emma limped into the kitchen. Violet was already working on the batter and Emma went over to help her. She smiled, she felt like she had found a worthy replacer for her firefighting career. Yes, she missed her firefighter family. Yes, she missed the days she could run up a ladder without thinking about it, but now she was doing her other passion and she had found her soulmate, the love of her life.

Yes, life was good again…


End file.
